


Shades of the Galaxy: The Clone Wars

by Darren1138



Category: RWBY, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Clone Wars, Crossover, Gen, RWBY - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 20:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18667960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darren1138/pseuds/Darren1138
Summary: A young Jedi Knight eager to protect the galaxy. A Senator willing to preserve her family's legacy. A lone warrior looking for a cause. A smuggler just trying to find her way in life. Four beings of red, white, black and yellow will become involved in a war that will test their strengths and resolves to determine the fate of the galaxy. (RWBY AU story in the SW canon)





	1. Red: Padawan Menace

**Author's Note:**

> A/N~ Greetings, everyone! As if writing one RWBY fanfic wasn’t crazy enough, I decided to write up yet another crossover one! Seriously, what is with me and crossovers? Maybe it’s the crazy pleasure of seeing two or more of my favourite shows coming together as one to bring more exciting action to the table.
> 
> Anyway, I’ve always thought about how writing a RWBY/Star Wars crossover. So, I had the idea of doing one right off the bat, but I decided to do something different. 
> 
> Right now, I’m doing a RWBY/Power Rangers crossover that lets the characters of different shows directly interact with one another. But I’ve seen a lot of RWBY fanfics that seem to blend aspects of the world in RWBY with other franchises, making them like actual parts of other universes. Like, what if the characters lived in this universe instead of their own? So I thought, perhaps I can make one too.
> 
> It would be very interesting to have a go and make a story where the world of RWBY is part of the Star Wars galaxy instead of having the two series collide directly, as I would be able to pour in some new ideas of how the RWBY characters could be if they were born in the Star Wars galaxy. And thus, here we are!

** Red: Padawan Menace **

Cheers roared throughout the cities of Coruscant as people celebrated the news everyone wanted to hear. Joys calling for one thing that could change the fate of the galaxy. Something that could actually a difference for the planet which the Supreme Chancellor could promise where no one before him could.

The galaxy was in turmoil enough with a bunch of planets now wishing to secede from the Republic, and finally, the Chancellor had finally put into plan the only option to deal with these ungrateful systems.

War.

Through emergency powers, the Supreme Chancellor had won almost unanimous support from the Galactic Senate to build a Grand Army of the Republic to counter the increasing threat of the Separatist Alliance.

Coruscant was in full swing, nearly the entire planet celebrating the news of mobilizing against the Separatists. Joyous cheers were sounded all across the topmost levels of the urban planet who were able to get the news right as the declaration was made by the Senate.

In the underworld, however, the news had to wait due to the lack of proper connection and broadcasting. Right now, there was other businesses to worry about. And in these dark places, none of them were practically good. None more so than one of the craziest corners of Level 1313…

 

* * *

 

Level 1313,

Coruscant,

Coruscant System,

Core Worlds,

 

The dirty and crowded levels of the underworld can be a gruesome place to even be in. Being caught in the claustrophobia-inducing traffic of walking citizens in the main road would be the best way to navigate in these places. For if you ravel within the thinner alleyways to take shortcuts, you’re bound to end up meeting a bad crowd.

Almost anyone on the list could be found here. Thieves, thugs, mercenaries, serial killers. Heck, if you’re really unlucky, you could end up being hunted down by a bounty hunter if you happened to have a price on your head. There’s a reason why the government dubbed these as ‘slums for the scum’, and the deep levels like that of 1313 more than live up to their name.

Fortunately, for a pair of mercenaries, at least they didn’t have the worst experience. Just a couple of Weequays exiting from a local diner. When they opened the doors, the screams of panicked civilians were heard, suggesting an attack or some form of physical abuse. Inside, the diner’s bartender, a Selkath was lying down on the floor, head bruised and eyes unable to open properly due to the nasty hit. A couple of chairs were flipped down and broken glass was visible.

It was a terrible way to begin a work day in the underworld for the unfortunate ones. These two thugs exited the place, victorious in their attack against the poor man, robbing him of his much deserved credits. Leaving the mess behind them, the two gangsters gathered near a pair of parked rusty speeder bikes while having a laugh at their mischief.

As soon as they were about to hop on over to leave the area before the authorities arrive, they heard a soft little voice calling out to them.

“Excuse me?” They turned to the source of the voice and they could see the person who called for them. Coming into the light under the street lamp, they saw what appeared to be a small human girl, covered in a thick red cape and her head protected by a red hood walking towards them. “Can you help me?” The smaller girl looked up to show her face to the gangsters. Other than the strands of dark red hair seen over her pale face, there was a strange little feature on this girl that made her very peculiar, even to the Weequays.

She had a pair of silver eyes…

“Nah, it’s just a little girl.” Even so, one of the thugs did not want anything to do with her, telling his partner to forget about her. “ _Pay no attention._ ” But the girl did not waver. She moved to ask the men again for their assistance. Her face looked very sad like a girl who was all lost and alone without anyone to care for her and trying to get these two men to give her the attention.

“Please, sir. I need your help.” She then put up the most adorable face she could muster, with glimmering puppy-dog eyes and lips pursed in. After seeing the pitiful sight, the two Weequays finally gave in, but only because they wanted the pesky girl to go away and get out of their sights for good.

“What do you want, you pest?” asked the first Weequay.

“Yeah, make yourself useful and piss off!” warned the other.

“I’m lost and really in need of help.” The girl gave her request. However, as one would expect when living in these parts of the city, these low-lives did not even bother to care.

“Well, boo hoo to you.” taunted the first thug with sarcasm.

“You’re in the underworld now, little Miss Riding Hood. In here, you look after yourself.” The second Weequay came to push the girl’s forehead with his finger to show his point about life in the underground levels.

“But I need to find my sister.” The girl still did not give in and then revealed her main intentions.

The two Weequay then stopped their annoyed rants and looked to each other as if there was something in helping this poor human girl that could give them a benefit. The benefit of the worst kind that is. Perhaps helping the girl find her sister could prove ‘fun’ for them, if only she got their meaning…

“Hrgh. Your sister, huh?” The first thug slyly took interest, pretending to actually care and not thinking about doing other stuff.

“Alright, little miss.” The other Weequay slung an arm around the little girl, pulling her in to gain her trust. The hooded child smiled so innocently, happy that the men were now willing to help her find her sibling. “We’ll help you find your beautiful sister. Do you have a clue where she’s at?”

“Well…” The girl dug into her pocket to pull out a piece of paper before showing it to the two men. “I have this picture of her.”

The two men were obviously more excited about looking into this photo than the real task at hand. They took the photo to view and stared into it. They did see the image of a teenage girl with bright yellow hair and dressed in a brown vest with a pocket attached to the right side, a yellow tube top, which exposed her mid riff, underneath and a pair of brown shorts. She also wore a pair of sunglasses while leaning against a wall looking at the photographer.

For the average lowlife, the sight of a teenage woman would be something really exciting and helping the little girl finding her could prove to be worth trying out. And that would have been a given, if it weren’t for the frightened expressions on their faces.

Instead of the same suggestive faces, the two men were now looking scared to the bone. Something about this girl in the photo really gave the chills only a Hutt could bring. They looked at the younger girl in front of them and then back to the other one in the photo, wondering if there was really a comparison between the two. However, the one thing they were most baffled about was how the two were related.

“Bantha fodder… You mean… **that’s** your sister?” The one Weequay said. The girl just nodded while still smiling.

“Do you think you can tell me where she is?” she sweetily asked the two of them, seemingly unaware of what they were so acted up about. One of the Weequays then pulled the other away from the girl and brought him closer to his face to say something without her knowing.

“She must be crazy. This brat’s sister is the Yellow Rancor!” he exclaimed while whispering.

“Ee-chuta!” cursed his partner. “What do we do?!” It was a serious dilemma now. How could they possibly avoid this hectic situation?

There were many tales of the infamous Yellow Demon, simply because she had been the scourge of the slums for some time now. Five years, in fact. Entire swoop gangs were wiped out thanks to this dangerous woman. Bars were wrecked and forced to close down due to her frequent scuffles with other tough guys out there. In one tale, she was even seen breaking the legs of an assassin who tried to wipe her out and when she found the guy responsible for putting a price on her head, she immediately found and murdered the guy straight up.

Needless to say, she was a ruthless murderer out to rule the underworld like a Mandalorian on a killing spree. Worse still, the girl in front of them. She was her sister?! This harmless little brat was related to one of, if not the most dangerous criminal in all of the underworld?!

There was only one thing to do then…

“Run!” And off they went, jumping onto their speeders, starting up their engines and just sped off, leaving behind the clueless little girl behind. She stared blankly at the two bikers as they disappeared from sight.

“Gee, all I did was ask for help…” She whined to herself before picking up the photo of missing sister the thug threw away when he ran for his life. Just when one would think that the girl would feel very upset with this loss, no one would be prepared about what would happen next.

 

* * *

 

The two speeders raced away from the diner and off into the streets, carelessly driving into the crowd and nearly crashing into market stalls on the way.

They kept on riding without looking back. Once they felt they were within a safe distance, they finally slowed down at cruising speed. Relieved, they decided to take it easy and looked behind to at least see how far they’ve sped through to feel satisfied of a long daring ride.

Then, that’s when one of the thugs saw something coming from behind. It looked to be another speeder bike heading for them with a bright headlight shining towards them. One look at the driver, however, and the Weequay almost fell off the bike in a panic. He then turned to his fellow rider and yelled to him.

“Look!” The gangster turned to see where his partner was looking at and there he saw the dreaded sight as well. A sight he thought he would never see again.

“She’s following us? On a swoop bike?!” He saw right. The little girl with the hood at the diner was on a swoop bike, racing towards them. And she was catching up to them!

Fears were now driving them mad. She must truly be the sister of the Yellow Rancor! The way she was driving that speeder bike like she was twenty years old or something, and her relentless pursuit to get to them particularly. They had to be the hunted and she was the predator.

“We have to lose her! Who knows what she’ll do to us?!” The two bikers picked up the pace and accelerated to top speeds in an effort to lose their unexpected pursuer.

Right behind, the young girl in the hood drove her swoop bike, slightly more bent in design compared to the other two speeder bikes, in hot pursuit of her new acquaintances. Her cape fluttered violently along the rough draft of wind as she put the pedal to the metal and catch up.

The chase was on as she tailed her fleeing targets throughout the streets in a wild race through unsuspecting crowds of pedestrians. The two gangsters made sharp and tricky turns here and there trying their best to shake off the stalking girl behind them; even going as far as driving right into people thinking that the girl would have no choice but to pull over and stop to prevent hurting other people.

More often than not, however, the girl was no pushover. While her targets drove recklessly and dangerously into crowds, she actually made remarkable leaps of her own bike and over the people, hovering up in the air for a brief few moments before landing safely and free of any unlucky passer-by.

After coursing through the alleyways and people-packed streets, the speeders soon reached a more dangerous section of the under level; the busy highway where landspeeders and other hovercraft zoomed throughout the roads in large lanes of heavy traffic. The lives you would have to worry about when chasing in this highway are that of your own. And that was what the Weequay bikers tried to do.

They drove on to the lane of the road where the traffic was going opposite of their course, making this a perilous bike ride for the three speeders. They passed through vehicle after vehicle, slightly putting them off course and causing more trouble for the girl behind them. If this wouldn’t stop than nothing would.

After what appeared to be minutes of non-stop, daring racing across this deadly highway, the speeder bikes eventually had had enough and turned away from the road to return to the darkness of the streets.

When they stopped halfway into another alley, they looked behind to see if their run to a hellish traffic rush was worth the risk. In still silence, they watched on, waiting for the arrival of the girl on the swoop. Eventually, after a few seconds, they saw no one coming by at all.

“I think we lost her.” said the first Weequay.

“Good.” The other one wiped the sweat off from his head. “Let’s go home.”

 

* * *

 

Finally, with the girl out of their hair, they planned to move forward and zoom on through the alley and back to business as usual.

“AARRGHHH!!!” Suddenly, once they looked forward, there she was again! Hitting the brakes as hard as they could, they stopped their bikes in front of the girl, their troubles were back to make them miserable.

The hooded girl stood silently, with that deceivingly adorable smile still on her face. To the thugs however, they didn’t like that smile of hers at all. Having no choice, they proceeded to threaten her by showing their fists.

“You ignorant little brat! Get lost! Or should I make you run back to your mommy for ‘ya?” threatened one of the Weequays, not caring that she was just a child. She was getting on his nerves enough to make an exception. They were going to teach her a lesson only those within the lower levels of Coruscant knew how.

The two Weequay showed off their fighting stances so the girl would take note of their dangerous fighting skills, but she just stood there like they were nothing. This prompted them to go ahead and attack the girl, put the hurt on her and make her go away.

The first Weequay charged for her and within ranger, he threw a fist at her. Seconds during his run, the hooded girl still did not even flinch, letting the bad guy slam his fist on her. The Weequay swung as hard as he could, confident that he would end this girl’s stalking madness.

Suddenly, as he punched, he expected to land a hard blow on her head. But, as it happened, all he felt was nothing. His fist flew off punching the air and causing him to throw himself onto the ground, crashing head first onto the concrete floor.

His friend looked on in pure alarm, watching him take the fall and plummeted his face onto the floor. And the girl? She was gone… In the blink of an eye! She had just vanished the instant her attacker was about to land the punch on her.

“What?!” He looked around to find the girl, scanning all over the alley for any signs of her. All that was left behind however was a shower of rose petals slowly coming down from where she was originally was. It gave him the hint that the girl had jumped up and released those petals for some reason.

He tried looking up for the super-fast jumper anywhere around them, checking out the balconies or the roofs for the child. After a while, it was too late to find her as all of a sudden, he felt a nasty hit on his backside, pushing him forward as well while he turned around and fell on his back to join his companion on the pavement.

The two got back up, rubbing their face or butt from their nasty falls. Something told them that it was definitely the work of their teenage pursuer, but they were surely confused as to how she could disappear in less than a second faster than a Podracer while also leaving behind an ominous display of rose petals. How did she do that? What kind of magic did she do to move in light speed?

They groggily recovered from the pressure of their falls and returned to look out for the girl again. Not long after, there she was again, right in front of them, crouched down after landing from above. Standing back up, she kept her smile intact, now feeling more like a taunting gesture to the Weequay.

The second Weequay, more aggravated than before, ran for her again before his partner followed him behind. The girl waited for the two thugs to come at her when they raised their fists towards her.

This time, she was ready for them. When they were close enough, she made a sidestep away from the incoming punch, ducking down and letting the punch fly right above her. The second Weequay came to join in the fun and, this time, she caught the arm of the attacking Weequay and tossed him behind him judo style, flinging him towards his partner. The stumbling thug tripped from the girl’s defensive move and crashed into the other guy, piling up on top of him.

The Weequay at the bottom wriggled around from the weight of his friend on top of him before throwing him aside in a disgruntled grunt. He set his sights on the child again, who was now furrowing her brows, looking like she was itching for more. The expression annoyed the gangster enough that he wasted no time to try and bash her again.

Soon, it was a fist fight when the girl defended herself from a punch. After failing to hit her the first time, the Weequay went with his other hand to hit her other shoulder. Again, she managed to block the strike with her free hand, locking them into a stalemate of pushes against each other. She looked over his shoulder to see the other Weequay running towards them to lend him a hand.

The girl countered by throwing away the first Weequay with incredible strength before switching targets and prepared for the next Weequay to try his luck. The thug swung his fist again, only for the girl to catch it with both of her hands like a ball. She then threw it aside, making him vulnerable and giving her the chance to score a punch of her own. She did so and, with all her might, whacked the Weequay in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The first Weequay went at her again, trying to lock her in a headlock, but she saw it coming and gave a quick spin kick to the chest and sent him away again. In a split second, the other Weequay came by and tried to punch her again. The girl caught the gangster’s fist with her elbow, swiping it off before punching him in the face and delivering a sweeping kick to the ground, knocking him off his feet.

When the first thug got up, he rubbed his head from the slight concussion suffered from his knockback. He took one good look at the girl in front of him, who stood there waiting for him to make his next move. And to make things harder for her, the thug pulled out a knife with multiple sharp edges along both sides of the blade. He swung the weapon around to show his intimidation towards her. Again, she did not show any signs of backing down. And so, the knife-wielding crook made no stop to taking on the girl.

He charged forward and lunged his knife at her, aiming right for her chest. The girl bent forward and let the sharp blade reach for her. Within the edge of the knife’s reach, the blade was thrown forward, only for the target to duck right under and let it pass. With her body lowered to a crouching position, she punched the thug in the stomach, immobilizing him. She then aimed for the hand holding the knife and did a hand chop to it. The gangster immediately dropped the knife upon getting stunned by the attack to his wrist before getting kicked away by the girl.

As the knife dropped from the hand, the girl quickly caught it in her hand. When the crook rose up from his fall, he could not believe his eyes when he saw the girl twirling the knife in his hand with the other hand on her hip, proudly showing her victory over his failed attempt.

The other Weequay, instead of attacking her, ran towards his partner, helping him up from the brutal punishment he had suffered. They were not facing a little harmless girl anymore. They were fighting a demon. Some unusual human being capable of moving within the speed of a pikobis lizard, striking hard without mercy and at such lightning pace. Worse still, there was nothing they could do to inflict any damage on her. She was truly the sister of the Yellow Rancor.

“How is she pulverizing us?!” The first Weequay yelled.

“Ah! Karabast!” groaned the other. “You got to do things the hard way!” There was no point fighting hand to hand. It was time to pull out the obvious solution to dealing with the people you hate. They pulled out, from their belt holsters, a simple but deadly DL-18 pistol each. Not much of a firearm for a thug at Level 1313 compared to rifles straight out of Merr Sonn or Czerka Arms. There were even lucky crooks who operated with illegal goods like DXR disruptors and dioxis grenades. But it would have to do. Who could argue with using a blaster in situations like this? Believing that the odds were on their side, they were now more confident that they would win this battle in a single blow.

However, even with blasters involved, there was still no sign of stopping this little kid from running away. But did she have guns of her own to make this a fair-and-square gun fight?

Nope. It looked like she did not have any firearm to combat the Weequay. Either this kid shared the guts of the Yellow Rancor, or was she just being stupid?

However, that was when they witnessed the most extraordinary sight of this unfortunate encounter. The girl’s smile suddenly became a frown, staring at them with a cold look on her face. Using her right arm, she reached for her back and took out something very unusual.

It looked like a sort of melee weapon; a long black metal rod with a square barrel at the tip of the rod. At the hilt, there was a small little red crescent-shaped scythe attached at the end. It was originally thought that this was a sort of combat scythe-staff hybrid. Still, they did not see how that would make things easier if they could just shoot the staff off.

Then, at the most surprising moment, the girl twirled her staff at front and pressed a button on the staff, straightening the scythe blade upwards and at the barrel, came out a long silver blade of light. The two thugs were now scared stiff at the sight of this unconventional weapon, which gave them the most straightforward hint of who this girl really was.

“Sh-she… She’s a Jedi!” It was given that anyone holding some laser sword in any form would be immediately identified as a Jedi, part of an order dedicated to preserving the peace of the galaxy. Now, they were coming face-to-face with one and that sent chills to their spines.

Nevertheless, desperate to get out of the situation, the two men began pulling the trigger and fired their weapon at the Jedi. Immediately as the bolts went flying, the girl now revealed to be a Jedi swung her weapon round and around, using the laser blade to deflect the energy shots to random places.

The two men kept firing for a good few seconds, but none of their shots could hit the Jedi with her blade defending her as she spun her weapon. As she successfully blocked off the shots, she moved closer to the two thugs, using the Force to sense the incoming projectiles and blasted them away.

Soon, the two men pulled on the trigger again, only to hear faint clicking sounds and no laser fire coming out of their weapons; clearly not a good sign. With them out of ammo, the girl raised her hand out, reaching out for the blasters. She then clenched her hand into a fist, and somehow, a mysterious force pulled the blasters away from their hands and dropped them on the ground.

With no other option, they pulled out their daggers again and ran for her in a last ditch effort to inflict some pain. As they swung their daggers at her, the Jedi dodged the strikes one by one, practically dancing through the barrage of knife stabs with grace and precise timing. Then again, to the thugs, for a Jedi to dodge this many strikes, even when she had a lightsaber in hand, was just insulting simply because they thought the fight could have ended as soon as she pulled out her red-bladed weapon.

When it looked like they were tired out from their failed attempts, the girl made one heck of a slash of her sabre and struck the gangsters’ knives, cutting through the metal blades and leaving the weapons severed with nothing left but the hilts. Finally, with one thrust of her hands, she spread them out and pushed the two thugs together into the walls around her, knocking them hard.

She looked at the fallen crooks and saw that they both were now stirring from the utter pain of crashing into the walls. She looked to her right and saw that the first thug was now out cold. Then, to her left, the other one fared slightly better, holding the back of his head from the force of the crash.

Regardless, the fight was finally over. The Jedi spun her saber around again and unsheathed the blade back into the weapon before clipping it at her back. Her face was still showing that serious frown as she walked towards the conscious thug to her left.

When the Weequay came back to his senses, he could not properly move and thus was unable to get back up. He was now at the mercy of the Jedi who knelt down to face him while looking at him inquisitively.

“Now, then… I’ll ask again.” This time, instead of the sweet defenceless voice made during their first meeting, this was now a more serious and demanding. She was now clearly in control of the situation. Who knew that this tiny little girl would actually be a Jedi? Of all things?! She aimed her gaze down towards the Weequay, pressuring him to answer her question. “Where is my sister?”

The odds were against him right now. The thug had no choice but to accept defeat and give the girl what she wanted. He raised his head ready to answer her and give her the leads to the Yellow Rancor. He opened his mouth to speak and satisfy her needs.

**BEEP BEEP**

Unfortunately for the Jedi, the questioning was interrupted by the sounds of beeping coming from her belt.

“Oh drat!” All of a sudden, the bad girl attitude was lost. Instead of going back to the sweet girl personality, this was more of a young reckless kid kind of attitude; rushed and unrefined, young and rash.

She turned around in a hurry and took out a remote device from her belt. She answered the call of her communicator and it projected the image of another Jedi in hologram form; a man wearing the traditional Jedi attire; a leather tunic underneath a thick robe and boots worn at the legs. He appeared to be older than the girl, suggesting that this must had been her Master. It seemed more evident to the fact that, when the girl wore her hood down to answer the call, at the back her hair, there was a long thin braid coming down her shoulder So, as it would turn out, this young girl was only a Padawan.

“Y-Yes, Master?” she stuttered in a panic.

“ _YOUNG PADAWAN. WHERE ARE YOU?_ ” asked the stern Master.

“Oh, you know!” The girl rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Just… uh… doing my training is all. Yeah, one cannot be too prepared when it comes to Jedi business. Hehe…”

“ _RUBY ROSE._ ” The Jedi Master revealed the name of his apprentice, shaking his head as if not buying her lies. “ _PLEASE DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE IN LEVEL 1313 AGAIN…_ ”

“No! Wh-why would I be? It’s not like I had anything good to do around here, right?” When she said that, she turned around to make sure her quarry had not left her presence. But, sadly, she found that there was no one there. Alarmed, she looked for the other Weequay at the next wall, only to find that he too was gone. Her little hunt for these guys was now left for naught.

“Oh, karab…” She was about to curse under her breath before she was interrupted by her Master.

“ _THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH, PADAWAN_.” he warned. “ _REPORT YOURSELF BACK TO THE TEMPLE IMMEDIATELY. MASTER YODA WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU. WE WILL DISCUSS THIS LATER._ ”

Ruby sighed in defeat. As much as she wanted to find the crooks again, she could never disobey her Master for long. Her head down, she quietly acknowledged her Master’s order.

“Yes, Master…” She then shut off the hologram and put the communicator away. She looked behind her where her targets may had run away through, disappointed that the search for her sister had been fruitless, despite coming so close to scoring a major lead. She had spent weeks, if not months, finding any sign of the Yellow Rancor, studying any possible person and place of interest, and those Weequay could had been her one and only chance to find her. But alas, she had lost it.

There was no point blaming her Master, though. She knew that it was unwise to question him, but she couldn’t help but wish he didn’t call her at the wrong time. She had to accept to where the chips fell however. It was time to go home, return to the upper levels and the Jedi Temple, and answer for her disobedience.

“So close… yet, so far…”

 

* * *

 

Ruby took whatever credits she had left to pay for transportation back to the Temple. An air taxi was all she could afford after spending a few days away under the guise that she was simply on a tour to hone in or her connection to the Force.

Well, she did use the power of the Force to her advantage, gaining some progress in it, but as her Master would probably put it, she used it for the wrong reasons. However, she felt that finding her sister was the right thing to do; to solve some questions regarding her family and to catch up on loose ends. She did, however, stumble into some dark territory without her Master’s presence or supervision. That could score some negative remarks from him and the Council.

Riding shotgun on the taxi, sitting next to the Aqualish driver heading back to the Temple, she decided that it was time to just take a break and enjoy the fresh air of the surface. Well, fresh compared to the under levels, that is.

“Hey, sir.” she called to the driver. “Do you mind putting on some music. I need to relax my nerves.”

“Sure thing, ma’am.” The driver gladly accepted her request and put on the radio, turning it on to the exciting track of the city’s newest hit, ‘Red like Roses’. Ruby closed her eyes as she let the relatable tone and feel of the ballad part of the song set her back to a past she wished she knew better. Then, she was prepared for the more anticipated part of the instrumental number bring her imaginations of her using her Jedi skills to combat large black creatures in her head.

However, that part did not come. Instead, she was put off by the sudden interruption of the song by a news broadcast. Ruby groaned at the displeasing stop to her favourite song, forced to hear in on the latest breaking story of the HoloNet News.

**_*Greetings, citizens of the Republic. It has come with extreme delight or regret, depending on your of view, from the inevitable response from the Chancellor himself, of the crisis of the Separatist threat. *_ **

While news broadcasts like this were usually boring for Ruby, she could not help but wonder what the Supreme Chancellor himself had done. From brief conversations with her fellow Padawans and trainees, as well as some overheard talks from others, the events of numerous systems leaving the Republic were at least something worth noting.

As a Jedi, or at least training to be one, she was always told to remain vigilant in case anything should happen that required the Jedi to get involved in. This appeared to be one of those times.

**_*We would like to replay the speech given by the Chancellor regarding his actions to combat the Separatists. *_ **

“What the-?” Ruby heard the last sentence with much thought, confused as to how he would plan to ‘combat’ the Separatists.

**_*It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. The power you give me I will lay down when this crisis has abated. *_ **

Power given to the Chancellor, Ruby thought to herself. Could this mean…? The one thing the Jedi Order had feared would come?

**_*And as my first act with this new authority, I will create a Grand Army of the Republic, to counter the increasing threat of the Separatists. *_ **

Indeed, it was what Ruby had been afraid of. The Republic was about to build an army. An army to be mobilized against other worlds. An army to march on and protect the Republic and eliminate the threat. War… was coming…

 

* * *

 

After her uncomfortable ride home, Ruby ran for the Temple, climbing up the stairs leading to the Temple doors. On the way, she had come face-to-face with a fellow Jedi at the steps. One Velvet Scarlatina; a Faunus Jedi with long ears coming out of her hair which was tied into a ponytail. She wore a black long-sleeved shirt under a thick brown vest, with a pair of brown shorts and a pair of black leggings underneath. She was talking to a few other young Jedi when she heard Ruby calling out to her.

“Hey, Velvet!” The red-haired teen screamed, catching her attention.

“Ruby? What is the matter?” Velvet noticed the alarmed expression on Ruby’s face, wondering why she was in such a hurry. Ruby stopped over, panting after a short run from the landing zone to the steps.

“Did you hear?!” She announced in between huffs. “The Chancellor has declared war on the Separatists!” To Ruby’s surprise, Velvet and the other students did not look as shocked as she was.

“Umm, Ruby.” Velvet said before letting the other Jedi know that she would see them later. “That was quite a few hours ago. Have you been going down underground again?” She suspiciously asked the Padawan, easily guessing the amount of time between the declaration of war and Ruby’s late notice.

“Yeah, yeah, I have.” She simply shrugged off the question, choosing to stick to the topic at hand. “But still, unbelievable, right?”

“It was most surprising to all of us. As you say, it’s unbelievable indeed, as are most of the Senate’s political endeavours, I’m afraid.” The two then proceeded to walk back up and into the temple, but Ruby still kept on talking about the recent event.

“This is crazy!” Ruby exclaimed, causing Velvet to slightly flinch from the loud cry. “I mean, what will the Council do now? They would have to convince him to stop this. They can do that, can’t they?” Ruby expressed her concerns out loud that she was sure to have caught a few ears around her.

The Jedi have always been revered as peacekeepers, resorting to more nonviolent and civil ways to solve conflicts between two sides of a crisis. No one, especially Ruby, could ever imagine the Jedi taking up arms and enter a war in which the galaxy could never be the same again.

She knew that the Jedi used to battle in wars before, but that was only before a thousand years ago. The times of warring with dark beings like the Sith or barbaric hordes of the Mandalorians were long gone. Even if the Republic, in which the Jedi would protect, was to start a war with some seceding planets, there was absolutely no doubt that the Jedi would stay away from this. Ruby was sure that the Jedi Council would do something to make sure to let the Republic know of the Jedi’s position within the conflict.

“Ruby…” Velvet stuttered. “I… don’t know how to tell you this…” Ruby looked at her friend with worry. There was something from the Faunus that she wouldn’t like to hear from. Still, her curiosity was getting the best of her, prompting her to let her continue.

“Wh-what’s wrong, Velvet?” The older Jedi took a brief moment to relax herself, ready to tell Ruby of the news she dreaded to repeat to. And she was sure Ruby would be just as devastated.

“We are going to join them. The Jedi are going to war.”

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	2. White: Senator in Distress

** White: Senator in Distress **

Galactic Senate Building,

Coruscant,

In light of the transfer of emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor and thus, his declaration of war and the building of an army for the Republic against the Separatists, the Senate was well up in arms to support Palpatine and the eventual war upon their new enemies. Senators provided their aid to the Chancellor’s bidding to unite the Republic to defend themselves and combat the Separatists. But not everyone was so convinced…

There were a select few Senators who disapproved of the mobilization of the Republic against former members. They dreaded the event of a war on a scale which had never been seen for over a millennium. Yet, even with all their opposition and power, it was not enough to dissuade the much larger majority of the Senate who were willing to provide the necessary funds and other resources for many benefits; personal and mutual ones.

For one planet, the war effort was a one-way ticket to fame, glory and riches beyond anything ever perceived. It was the planet Solitas. Having been part of the Republic for thousands of years, the icy and snowy world had answered the call to help support the Chancellor in his promise for war against the Separatists.

The government believed that aiding the Republic war effort would help earn much needed business deals with other members and trust within the Senate which could push it to the point of ultimate prosperity and glory.

The only problem was that it wasn’t the government which fully made the decision to become part of the war. In fact, despite its stance in the conflict, the people living in Solitas were not as jubilant about the prospect of war. Many grew to oppose the declaration of war, believing that it would put them in great danger of being besieged, just as it had been so long ago, prompting them to protest for neutrality as opposed to the full-on allegiance to the Republic.

To make things worse, the government chose to believe in the idea of wartime earnings due to the prompting of one very powerful yet greedy corporation; one that many had hated to admit, but has become very essential in the growth through their ties to this major business power.

Operating within the cities of Solitas was the Schnee Mining Corporation. A mining company centred and specialized in obtaining rare and valuable resources throughout the galaxy and selling them to planets in need of the building of their militaries should the threat emerge. And now, in the midst of war, the Schnee Mining Corporation had seized the opportunity to gain the most out of their business through the selling of their minerals and more on a vast scale.

However, even if with all the planets they could sell to, many of the Senate’s other representatives did not think highly of the corporation due to its controversial methods of doing business deals. As powerful as they were, the Schnee Mining Corporation has had its fair share of opposition from the Senate and most of the Senators against them were some of the most powerful as well.

To solve the problem with its people, the Solitas government had done all it could to assure the people that Solitas would be prepared to defend itself better than ever, utilizing many military endeavours to pursue a more powerful stance. After all, among all of the systems within the Remnant Coalition, Solitas was by far the most well-armed. But even with all the shiny new weapons and ships, as well as the might of the Altesian Fleet, nothing could properly end the protests for neutrality in the war.

The people needed to see reason, they thought. So, to help soothe their sorrows and fears, the government had agreed to hold an event, courtesy of the Schnee Mining Corporation. Despite the corporation’s less than stellar reputation with the Galactic Senate, the people of Solitas would as least be grateful towards the company’s prospects in helping Solitas grow with the money they received.

But the one thing people adore about the Corporation was a certain representative within the family who helped make the planet maintain its beautiful side. The daughter of the corporation’s owner herself.

Weiss Schnee.

The white-haired girl would always hold charity concerts throughout Solitas and, in certain occasions, attend and perform for the people of Coruscant and the Republic as a whole. Her beautiful voice and charming presence brought awe to those who heard her sing. She would chant special musical numbers about peace, freedom and hope, providing the people of Solitas the chance to live in the light of Solitas’ prosperity.

However, even the charm and beauty of Weiss Schnee was not enough to convince the people of the planet’s stand against the Separatists. As it turned out, the one person within the Schnee family that they admired through her voice, had just become the new Senator of Solitas.

As such, politics had taken over once again. Weiss Schnee, despite being only seventeen by the time of her appointment, had agreed to represent the planet in the Senate and support the war effort. A position not many would highly regard. The announcement of the young Schnee becoming a Senator brought a mixture of hope and disgust within the people of Solitas, not to mention the same opponents of Solitas in the Senate, who thought of the idea of a Schnee becoming a Senator brought with it corruption and greed, as did most of the Corporation’s business deals.

Nevertheless, Weiss moved on, proudly able to present herself to the Senate and show them that Solitas was ready for war on behalf of the government. She too believed that her father’s Corporation would be able to bring the Republic much needed resources to help build up the new Grand Army itself. She hoped that even being involved in the political field, her admiration for the people of Solitas and their own love for her back would help convince the people that Solitas would be grander than ever through joining this war.

Personally, she found the Separatists to be quite weak and disgusting, choosing to leave the Republic to terrorize worlds to their benefits. A feeling which many of her opponents would find ironic considering that her father had also adopted some of these unfairly ideals.

Now, she left the gigantic chamber and the cheers of the crowd towards the Chancellor behind, she was accompanied by a man almost twice her size, wearing combat gear and armed with a staff. She was called out early due to a call from her father that she would perform for the people of Solitas again; this time to give hope to her fans that she would do her best to work with allies and win the war for the Republic and Solitas itself.

She wore a rather elegant dress fit for the sophisticated; an icy blue strapless dress with a skirt going down all the way to her feet while also wearing a long-sleeved white coat over it with sleeves made to look like bells. She wore her hair into two buns at the sides and a snowflake-shaped crown stuck on top of her neatly combed hair. To keep her hair neat and tidy, she wore a simple black headdress that kept the hair down. On her chest was a silver crown-shaped pendant that was knitted on the chest area of the dress. The dress itself was made with a gradation of ice blue and white, giving off a cold yet beautiful feel, which fit right into the theme of her home planet. **(A/N~ I’m terrible with thinking about fashion unless I draw it out physically, so I’ll be doing up a simple sketch and painting to her design later on in deviantArt in the future.)**

As she walked along the curved corridor, passing through other dignitaries and politicians, she came across a couple of Senators who were discussing something about the Chancellor’s declaration of war.

One Senator was very pale in a bad way, wrinkly and frail, but still standing proud and straight over his counterpart. The other Senator was a woman dressed in a peace-looking white dress and with short orange hair, talked to the former with much reluctance, suggesting a rather divided debate among the two.

As Weiss approached the two, they took notice of her presence, turning to greet the young Senator. The male Senator came forward to kiss her hand, a gesture not well taken from the disgusted Schnee herself.

“Greetings.” he welcomed with a sultry voice. “So, you must be the new Senator of Solitas.”

“Indeed, I am.” Weiss proudly acknowledged.

“You look…” The Umbaran Senator grasped his chin, judging the Senator’s look.

“Elegant? Beautiful?” Weiss helped to finish the sentence, but immediately, she would receive the blunt end of a Senator’s distaste.

“Too young…” snarled the male Senator. Weiss was absolutely shocked by the uncalled for remark. In fact, the way the Umbaran took it, it almost sounded more like an insult.

“Excuse me?!” she snapped, blasting away with arrogance. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”

“Disrespectful attitude. Egotistical pride. Indeed, a Schnee if I ever met one.” The other Senator joined in with more respect and grace, but firm in her judgement.

“And if I’m not mistaken, your older sister would have been eligible to take the seat in the Senate instead.” reminded the first Senator. “But then again, she is in the military. So, I have a reason to believe that your father must be desperate enough to make a seventeen-year-old like you represent Solitas in the Senate.” Weiss was about to rant again, when a hand was raised in front of the pale-faced Umbaran.

“That’s enough, Senator Deechi.” affirmed the woman next to him. “We shall discuss our debate some other time.” Taking her request to heart, the Umbaran Senator bowed in farewell and left the two female Senators on their own, snarling under his breath.

“You disgust me, Senator Mothma.” uttered Weiss. “I am honoured to take the title as Senator of Solitas. And I shall serve that role proudly and for the people of my world.”

“It appears you have been in the dark for too long, my dear.” sighed the Senator of Chandrilla. “I am aware of your people’s opinion in war. Right now, I hear that the people are pushing towards neutrality in our unfortunate conflict against the Separatist Alliance. It is a pity, really, that your government continues to jeopardize their freedom of speech.”

“My father knows what is best for the planet.” insisted Weiss. Nerved by the older Senator’s claim of her planet scrutinizing its own inhabitants, she was not going to let her act go just because some Senator told her so.

“He is an owner of an old mining company. One known for its controversial labour laws and questionable business deals.”

“But it is still one of the most important, mind you. One that the Republic would all too well accept.” Weiss pointed out. “And as long as the government is on his side, we will assure to the Republic that victory is at hand. Whether we like or not, we will have Solitas prosper from our contributions to the war effort.”

The Chandrillan Senator remained silent, watching this girl speak against her with pride. She would like to admit that the young Schnee had devotion to making sure her planet attains the goods to help people’s lives, but her rather unpleasant behaviour and blinding loyalty to her father and his corporation continued to make her even more unsettling for Mon Mothma.

It was easy to see why the Solitas government refused to listen to its own people. It was greed, lust for power and riches courtesy of the Schnee Mining Corporation. Something she saw in most of the other Senators in the room…

“Very well, Senator Schnee.” Finally, Mon Mothma had decided to not question Weiss any further, knowing that this conversation would not reach a happy ending if she kept going on. “I shall respect your resolve.” She then bowed to the Schnee and left her there speechless of the Senator’s leaving.

However, she did have one last thing to remind Weiss of. “But I must warn you. Even those with power can easily be shaken by the will of the people, especially when the only ones they care about are themselves…” And with that, the Senator disappeared away into the corridor. Weiss just stood there, unamused by Mothma’s final words to her before leaving.

She would show everyone in the Senate that Weiss Schnee shall help to make Solitas and the Republic more powerful than ever. There was no backing down from this. All in a day’s work for a Senator, she supposed.

**_The Schnee will rise to the occasion and we will be more powerful than ever._ **

She and her bodyguard resumed their trek; the man having heard the whole exchange, but refused to talk about it for fear of a rebuke from the Schnee.

Little did they know that someone was watching them from outside the building, peering from behind a window and on top of a building next to the Senate Chamber. The figure watched on as Schnee continued to walk off back to her ship to Solitas, planning on making it there before she does.

 

* * *

 

 

Outside a landing zone, far away from the Senate building, filled with parked airspeeders and taxis along lanes of spots, Weiss and a squad of her bodyguards, with the exception of her most trusted guard earlier, were heading for their transport back to her hotel, where she would pack up and leave for Solitas to begin the first of her planet’s propaganda movement.

It was dark at night and not a single soul in sight, so the guards were extra careful and alert of their surroundings in case anyone would try to pull off a hurtful act on the Senator. The Schnee were not always invulnerable, as many had fallen victim to numerous attacks and assassination attempts. On her first day, Weiss had to learn it the hard way.

Her transport was a white and blue Luxury 3000 space yacht, which was given to her family as gift through a business partnership with SoroSuub Corporation. Sleek in design and luxurious and comfortable on the inside, it could also cruise at a speed to avoid any unnecessary entanglements.

She was sided by two lines of three guards each while walking towards her ship. Her hair was now worn free of the buns and headdress that kept it short. She was just about a few feet away from the boarding ramp leading into her ship, about walk into the safety of her cruiser.

**BOOOMM!!!**

Suddenly, it came out of nowhere. A large explosion rocked the entire area, knocking Schnee and her guards of their feet. Debris started to fly everywhere with smoke trailing behind each piece.

Shaken by the massive blast, Weiss stayed on the ground for a while before getting up from the force of the blast. Her head reeled with the constant ringing in her ears and the blurring of her vision. She started to recover from her encumbering when she saw the dreadful sight of her ship being blown to pieces.

All around her, her guards had all fallen as well, though they were all still alive. Weiss got back up to her feet and headed over to help her guards up.

“Come on!” she begged. “Get up, trooper!” She shook one of them up with both of her hands, pushing his body front and back until the guard eventually stirred from out of unconsciousness. The guard grabbed the side of his royal helmet and shaking his head from the dizzy nausea he had suffered from the shock.

“Milady…” he dizzily called. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, trooper.” assured Weiss. “But our ship has been blown up!”

“Ugh…” The trooper got up to find the burning wreckage of the totalled luxury yacht. They were sure all of the people nearby could have heard the blast. She and the guard moved to pick up the rest of the fallen bodyguards in the area, grabbing the ones who were not able to move at all while helping the more fortunate ones to their feet.

As everyone recollected and helped out the wounded, Weiss made for one of the guards to discuss what had happened and what to do then.

**_We are not cowards. We are the Schnee family. We do not cower in times of glory and prosperity…_ **

“I need two men to get the wounded out of here.” ordered the head guard. “Everyone else still able, find out what happened.” The other guards saluted, following his commands as two men volunteered to help the injured men out of the site. In the meantime, the rest of the guards walked off in search of any leads or anyone who could be responsible. The lead guard then approached the Senator. “Milady. Get to safety.”

Then, instead of humbly accepting the guard’s request, Weiss held out a hand, insisting on staying put to find out who would dare threaten her life. Almost a bold yet suicidal move Senators had ever pulled off before her.

“No.” she said. “I will find out who did this to my ship and dares to kill me.”

“But…” The guard kept on trying to convince her to stay out of harm’s way, but Weiss could not accept disobedience from a royal guard.

“That is an order, soldier.” She snapped coldly. The guard knew not to disobey the Senator and thus, let the Schnee carry out her own end of investigating who tried to kill her.

Now alone, Weiss was free to move about and find her would-be assassin. She took in a deep breath before moving away from the wreckage of her ship and towards the dark yet crowded space of parked vehicles, where little light illuminated only a fraction of the darkness.

**_The Schnee are never without our enemies. We must face them head on if we are to become what we are destined to be…_ **

She delved deeper into the unknown, without anyone to watch her back. one would think a lonely Senator out in the open would be a dead Senator already, but Weiss was willing to take the chance. If anything, she would like to bear witness to the face of her attacker head on, honouring the Schnee name to defy any danger thrown at her.

It was getting very eerie the deeper she went. Other than the scurrying of some disgusting vermin within the vehicles, the Senator could hear nothing around her, making her even more vigilant of her surroundings. She looked hard and long, even as she was surrounded by darkness.

She then entered a cross junction where again, nothing but transports parked everywhere around her with only a dim light shining on her in the middle. Weiss still looked on, trying even harder to search for her assassin. Eventually, after minutes of searching, she began to feel like putting an end to the hunt and accept that the assassin must had fled the scene. However, she still could not easily give up.

A Schnee was always a hot target for any potential enemy. There was no point running from the danger. If history proved anything; a cowardly Schnee is a dead Schnee, which was why she had to train extra hard in the art of combat and war in preparation for what could happen to her. As luck would have it, unfortunately, she would have a lot of enemies to face.

That was when she would end up meeting her first enemy face-to-face.

**CLICK!**

“Huh?” From out of the shadows, she heard a faint clicking noise coming from out of nowhere.

**BWUIM!**

A loud bang was heard. In no time, Weiss was alerted to the danger and quickly ducked before the yellow energy shot could hit her. The shot passed, hitting an airspeeder behind her. Reflexes from her years in training had saved her life.

Now, she was sure that someone was still out there to silence her for good, and it was time to meet her assassin and challenge whoever he or she was.

“Who are you?!” “You dare threaten the life of…!”

**BRROOMMMM!!!**

Suddenly, another shocking blast was heard. This one sounded off longer than any gunshot. The zooming sound got closer as Weiss saw what appeared to be a trail of boosting flames coming out of something flying her way.

It landed, revealing itself to be a person, crouching down from its brief flight to the ground. The figure soon showed his true form. He rose as a warrior, from the looks of his armour.

Silver body armour worn on his torso with some simple carving on it. He also wore a black long-sleeved shirt and long pants underneath the armour with pads strapped onto the shoulders and knees. Probably most intimidating of all was what was worn over the head.

A helmet with two sharp spikes on the top sides of it, and a T-shaped visor with the two ends of the letter being triangle-shaped.

“Whoever you are, you picked on the wrong Schnee…” Weiss reached for her pocket, ready to defend herself against her attacker. From there, she took out a small short sword, silver all over with a thin blade with multiple edges along it. A pair of patterns lined up on the blade made of glass. The hilt of the sword was built with a cylindrical chamber in the middle, and a trigger at the grip of the weapon.

**_Steady yourself. Do not falter. A Schnee never falters… especially in poise and balance…_ **

She kept her legs straight, faced her side towards her opponent and pointed her blade towards her opponent in a sophisticated style, gentle but deadly. Graceful yet strong. She waited for her enemy to make the first move. All there was a minute of silence and no movement came from either side.

The armoured assassin waited for the Senator to make her own move as well. He was quite surprised that his target was defiant against him, how some fancy heiress of a business corporation could actually have the guts to stand up against him. But he let her have it her way, drawing out a pair of weapons at his disposal; a blaster on one hand and a long black and white sword on the other. Seeing that her opponent had a gun on his side, Weiss pulled out another weapon from her belt; a white DT-29 revolver; a gift from an officer and family friend, who was assigned to the Republic Corps of Engineers.

Finally, the Senator completed her preparation by removing the long skirt coming down her legs, dropping it on the ground. In its place was a shorter but sturdier combat skirt which would help her gain more manoeuvrability against her opponent.

The two were now engaged in a duel of unorthodox proportions; blade and blaster in hand for each side. The standoff lasted another minute as they assessed each other’s stances.

Then, wasting no more time, the assassin moved first, aiming his sword towards Weiss. The Senator prepared to meet the dark vibrosword with her own weapon. When they got close, the blades finally clash.

Weiss’ silver edgy blade struck the smoother blade of the assassin before pushing each other off; the two once again at opposite ends. The assassin charged forward again and swung his sword from above, striking down on the Schnee. She managed to defend herself by parrying the sword strike with her own, protecting her head from being split into two.

The moment she broke off the attack, she made her own attempt, slicing from the side. The assassin also blocked her attack and let a flurry of continuous sword strikes hit his blade over and over without any window of opportunity for the next few seconds.

Once the Senator was done with her barrage, the assassin made his move and escaped the thin blade’s wrath by flipping backwards in the air. In mid-air, the armoured warrior fired his blaster on Weiss, letting loose a few shots of yellow lasers towards her.

Weiss practically danced through the blitzing lasers as she dragged backwards as if she was skating on ice while the bolts all hit the ground. She then gave her revolver a shot and fired one round of her own. A blue laser flew for the assassin, only for him to use his blade to knock away the shot.

Soon, the swords duel became a gunfight as the two traded blaster fire using their firearms. They ran sideways, shooting their weapons while they sped for cover. Laser shots made holes across the area, vandalizing vehicles and walls alike.

Weiss took cover behind an airspeeder while the assassin used his jetpack to accelerate up onto a storage trailer; both ceasing fire to reload their guns. The assassin was the first to finish up loading a new energy charge and looked across from the trailer for the Senator, not knowing her exact position from his running.

Weiss then finished reloading, ready to fire again. She then slowly poked her head over her cover spot, looking for the crook. The moment she popped out, a blaster shot nearly zapped her head off, hitting the bumper of the vehicle almost inches away from her face and forcing her to retreat back to cover.

As the Senator hid back, the assassin moved forward, blaster locked onto the vehicle Weiss was still behind. He slowly stepped bit by bit trying not scare her out of stepping forward and shooting at him. With his quiet steps, Weiss would be unable to hear the assassin approaching her.

While he was about to get close, Weiss waited for the right time to make her move to shoot back. She grabbed the pistol to her head, hearing for any steps within the silence. All the while, she heard nothing. She couldn’t hear the assassin coming for her and the suspense was killing her. She was itching to move and end the fight.

**_Compose yourself… A Schnee must know bravery within the face of adversity…_ **

She took a deep breath to get herself back to focus. With one strong urge to move, she pushed herself forward and had her finger on the trigger to fire upon her opponent straight to his face. However, when she popped out, all she saw was nothing and no one. The assassin had vanished…

The Senator didn’t know what to expect. The assassin could pop out of anywhere and get an edge on her. She took the chance and walked forward, blaster aimed around and her other free hand to her holstered blade. She crept forward, scanning the area for any sign of her attacker.

A minute had passed and still, nothing came out to get her. The quiet atmosphere gave Weiss the chills as she continued to look for the assassin. The dark parking zone provided no such trace of his whereabouts, apart from the collateral damage left behind by their gun fight.

Then, Weiss spun around. From out of nowhere, the assassin leapt from nowhere and thrust his blade towards her. She acted quickly and pulled out her Myrtenaster blade before the enemy’s blade could cut her down, barely saving herself from a nasty end.

The two parted their blades in a flash before resuming another flurry of sword clashes. Weiss was more on the defensive; choosing to let the assassin wear himself out as he swung on while she did her best to defend or dodge every slash thrown at her. Swing after swing, block after block, the two continued

The assassin swung from the side with Weiss blocking the attack again. She made her move and swung her arm around to swipe the assassin. This time, she was successful in making the shot, scoring a hit by scratching the shoulder and forcing the assassin back.

The helmet-wearing warrior looked at the damage caused by the Schnee; a long slash mark across the armour pad. He looked back at Weiss, who was smirking at her successful strike on the warrior’s armour. Growling inside, the assassin felt his fists shaking in fury, refusing to be humiliated by a mere rich girl and her antiquated choice of weaponry.

His anger was fuelled and the assassin dashed forward to get his payback with Weiss ready for more. The assassin definitely amped up his game as he swung his sword even stronger than before.

Weiss felt the increase of strength rather well, the force of the initial blow almost knocked her blade off her hand. But she persevered, allowing the assassin to let his rage out on her. He swung forward as Weiss parried the strike with her blade upwards. Another swing to the leg and Weiss perfectly caught his blade before it could do the damage there. The third time he tried to attack the Senator by lunging forward to her chest, Weiss again dodged the attack and let the blade run past her before giving the assassin a shove away from her.

**_When the opportunity arises… a Schnee knows when to take the goods while they are still within reach._ **

Now, it was Weiss’ turn to attack, rushing forward to seize the chance to take on the warrior while he was being tossed aside. The assassin did not have much time to react as he haphazardly pulled out his blaster and fired aimlessly at the Senator. Unfortunately for Weiss, this had put her off from her attempt to attack the hunter. She then nearly fell as she dragged her feet to stop her advance.

**_But… a Schnee must advance with pride… not foolishness._ **

Once the Senator had stopped, the assassin made his move again and fired his blaster at Weiss. The Senator let her blade protect her, shifting her body around to deflect the blaster fire with haste. The sudden trick the assassin had pulled completely damaged her focus as panic overrode her arrogance.

The armoured assassin kept firing his weapon at her, pushing her backwards more and more. Finally, down to his last shots, one blaster bolt did the trick; sniping the Schnee’s blade away from her hand. He struck with rapid speed, making the move to kill. Weiss was just about to get her blaster out, but the assassin was quicker and in one fell swoop…

**SLASH!**

Pain. There was only that…

Weiss was suddenly riddled with agonizing pain and shock as the blade of the assassin slashed her left eye. She closed her eyes just in time, but the blade had already seared through the skin of her eyelid, barely protecting the eye itself, but left a gashing wound across the skin surrounding it.

**_Failure must NOT be tolerated. Failure only leads to weakness. Weakness… leads to disaster…_ **

She held her hands to her injured eye as a terrible stinging feeling surged throughout while holding in her desire to scream painfully by gritting her teeth so hard they could almost shatter. The pain was too much for the Senator to take as blood trickled down her face, nearly staining the otherwise clear white dress as it dropped to the floor. She had no choice but to fall to the floor to put pressure on the wound.

The assassin saw his chance at last. Sharpening his blade with his shoulder pad, he walked forward to finish off the fallen Schnee. He could just run forward and end it, pierce his blade right to the heart of this whiny Senator, but even he felt like it would be a waste of time. Instead, he decided to do it the old fashion way.

Slit the throat and watch as the target gasp her last breath.

Weiss just sat there, still clutching her eye. Her hands were now full of blood from the wound. She opened her other eye to see her would-be killer approaching her, blade dropped down to the floor and dragged along to deliver an ear-jerking screeching sound.

There was almost nothing she could do but massage the pain, and that was probably going to be her last action.

**_A Schnee is untouched, undeterred, and undefeated..._ **

She couldn’t have the time to use her weapons; get the blade back or even use her blaster. She was suffering too much pain in her eye to do anything. Without a proper vision, she felt hopeless to stop her killer from ending her life. She could only back away, letting go of her one arm to drag herself backwards while the other hand still held her wound.

For all her life, she never suffered such a heavy blow in forever. The wound was going to be a constant scar, not only physical, but also a mental one. She would never let this slip past her family. A completely terrible wound which she would not take lightly.

Not that the assassin cared anyway. He just steadied his blade for the kill, ready to put an end to this sophisticated scum of a target. He raised the blade in the air and finally slammed it towards the girl, supposedly ending the fight and the life of a Schnee who just got elected as a Senator.

**CLASH!!!**

**_It is not over…_ **

No. It was not over…

The blade had just stopped when it hit, not the fleshy skin of a Senator, but rather the hard, solid metal of her weapon…

The assassin watched in shock as Weiss somehow pulled her blaster at the last moment as a last ditch effort to protect herself from a fatal blow. She had her head down, still trying to ignore the pain suffered at her eye.

Then, slowly she raised her head to face her assassin. A trail of blood was seen from top to bottom across her eye. She was able to open the eye to reveal that the eye was still intact and rather healthy, as if the blade had never struck it in the first place. With both of her eyes staring coldly at her attacker, it was time to deliver her ultimate pay back.

**_Even as a Schnee falls, one must NEVER show weakness._ **

With one push, she shoved the assassin away before cocking her revolver to shoot a nicely-aimed hit on his blaster, sending it flying away from his hand. The warrior himself staggered back from the force of Weiss’ last-second counter.

The Schnee then rose to her feet and picked up her Myrtenaster from the floor. She then decided to sheathe her blaster away but not before looking at the huge gapping crack on the blaster’s top. She was going to have to explain this to the person who gifted the weapon to her.

All she had left was Myrtenaster; the one weapon that proved to be her saving grace more times than she could count. The blade has been part of her family for generations and has protected and served the Schnee for countless centuries. Now, with the honour of the family in her hands, she knew she had to rise up and take the blade as her own. She was going to put it to good use and defeat this assassin, once and for all.

**_Do not let those who oppose us seize the day._ **

In a surprising twist, Weiss moved her index finger to a button on the sword hilt. Pressing the button, it triggered the revolving chamber and clicked it in place. The fancy patterns on her blade began to light up in a bright orange-red light and could feel a rise in heat around the metal blade. And then, the biggest surprise of all; the sword began brighten up into a fiery flame surging across the blade. It was no Jedi’s lightsaber, but it was certainly spectacular nonetheless.

Admiration had to wait. Weiss had some ground to regain. Her heart and blood burning as hot as the fire around her weapon. If she was going to go back home with the scars forced into her, she was going to at least come home with a victory to compensate for the tragic pain she had endured from her enemy.

**_Fight for your victory. Fight for glory. Fight…_ **

**_For the Schnee family name…_ **

And the fight continued. With a fiery sword in hand, Weiss flew forward to challenge her bewildered opponent. She swung her weapon at the warrior, a blazing trail following behind. The searing hot blade collided with the assassin’s own and the flames fanned towards him. He could feel the heat flushed upon his hands, causing him to flinch from the sudden burn.

Weiss was hardly done. She then swished her sword again, poking towards the assassin’s face which pushed him back from being burned by the scorching blade. He tried to counter back with his blade, but the Senator blocked the attack and furiously brushed it aside. It was as if the fire projected from the blade was also giving her more power in her strikes, but in truth, it was her growing anger towards her foe that was driving her to the extreme.

Yet, the angered heiress was still being as graceful as she could, sliding through her enemy like competing against another lousy ice skater. She danced her way through on and on, fencing and lunging her weapon at the assassin while he desperately tried to defend himself from the furious swipes. Every burning slice she made only made him even more agitated and cautious of his movements.

She swung left and right; the assassin successfully parrying the strikes before he spun backwards to fire his blaster at Weiss. The Senator focused on the energy bolts and used her blade to block the projectiles like a Jedi Knight would with his or her lightsaber, only without the lasers being bounced back towards the shooter.

He then switched back to his own sword and resumed fighting the Senator close up. He lashed out his weapon at the Schnee’s own, trying to swipe it off her hand. However, Weiss’ determination had clearly made her stronger, allowing her to withstand strike after strike. The flame on her sword helped to destabilize her opponent’s stance as the fire burnt over him with each lashing.

The assassin threw with all his might and made one more powerful power slash on the Schnee, hoping that she would run out of energy at this point. Ironically, it was pretty much the other way around.

Finally, Weiss had just about enough of this foolish conflict. It was going to end with one outcome. Her victory.

She clicked on the button on her sword again and the chamber loaded in a new form of energy to her blade. The flame of her sword had been snuffed out, replaced by a colder and brighter aura sprinkling white snowflake-like particles as it filled the blade. An icy power befitting a Senator of Solitas.

With her sword now powered with the freezing aura, Weiss sped forward and slashed her blade at the assassin. Now, every swing brought with it a chilling surge that would somehow race up to the enemy’s blade and sting his arm from the freezing power. If that was the case, then the assassin had to be careful not to get Myrtenaster to strike his body for fear of a direr consequence.

There was no mercy from the Senator as she carried on slashing and throwing her cold power towards the assassin, slowing him down by giving his body almost numbing sensations and thus weakening him. The fight was almost one-sided as he began to lose grip on his weapon. Then, he made one desperate effort and swung forward to take Weiss by surprise. However, his swing was just too slow and stumbled forward.

This gave Weiss the opportunity to finish this fight for good. As the assassin’s back was facing her, she gave one spin and gave her sword one huge swing and, coupled with its freezing power, made a final strike at the assassin’s back. The back armour padding was scratched with one huge cut at the otherwise durable metal.

The assassin himself felt the full blow of the cut, searing through his skin. It felt like his flesh had been torn apart, but it was really the tangling feeling of the sword’s aura stinging into his body. The freezing fury of the weapon had taken a toll on his body, making it entirely numb in one go. Unable to feel his body anymore, the warrior could not move properly as he weakly fell to the ground almost like a branch with no signs of movement on his limbs.

Weiss had come around after her attack and turned to watch her attacker now flat on the floor. She clutched her eye again after enduring the stinging pain from the wound. She wanted to grin and mock her opponent, but her wounds were too unbearable to even muster joy in her victory.

All she could do now was walk forward and address the assassin’s defeat, let him answer for his crimes against a member of the Schnee family and Senator of the Republic. She came to his fallen body with caution, hoping that her attack did its job.

The body of the assassin continued to stay still as Weiss came closer to him. It looked like he already bit the bullet, defeated by the sheer might of the Senator’s power and grace in battle. Weiss kept on inching closer to his fallen body, anticipating her victory upon him would lead to a better understanding on whatever it was that was targeting her or anyone involved with her. To be sure, she kept her weapon pointed at him in case he would pull off anything foolish.

She was about a foot away from the assassin; blade still directed at him. Then, that was when she noticed movement from the fallen warrior. She stopped herself to give her opponent some space to see what he would do now that he was practically defenceless.

However, it was far from the truth. Suddenly, in an instant, the assassin managed to twist his body and deliver a blinding kick to Weiss’ hand. The force of the kick knocked her weapon away from her hand. The Senator was too stunned to act back, baffled by the assassin’s persistence against the elements. It would also seem like the guy was faking his injuries to sucker punch her.

As she looked on, the assassin just jumped back up and stared down on the Senator. It was now his turn to overpower his opponent. Weiss panicked and grabbed for her blaster to try and shoot him down. However, the warrior was quicker as he fired his own weapon at her own, blasting it away like he did with Myrtenaster.

Finally, the last thing he did to her was give her one more painful kick to the chest and all Weiss could do was let the foot slam her and force her down to the ground. The warrior’s foot smashed her down tightly, making it impossible to get back up. She tried to punch the leg of the warrior and that was all she could do. But the warrior continued to stare down at his quarry. Once he grabbed his blaster, he aimed it at the Senator’s head.

Weiss was now faced with a blaster to her face, instantly shutting her down of all attempts to free herself from the assassin’s foothold. Hope was lost before her eyes and there was almost nothing she could do now. Her first day as a Senator may had well been her last… She closed her eyes, waiting for the worst to happen.

The assassin’s finger inched closer to grip the trigger and was about to fire the weapon mercilessly, giving himself a few seconds to watch her opponent cower a little more before her much deserved death…

“ _Momma!_ ”

Suddenly, the assassin was triggered by the sound of a high-pitched voice coming from behind him. He turned around and there he saw two people watching him about to commit the execution. Weiss too had seen the two people when she heard that cry and was horrified to see what was going on. The two people were a mother and a child…

An Ithorian mother with her kid were probably about to enter her air transport when they caught the sight of the assassin about to claim his kill. The child grew horrified at the haunting sight of the assassin’s horrid look, while the mother shield her son by putting him behind her, but she too was frightened by the deathly stare of the warrior looking at them.

To the assassin, these two Ithorians, no matter how innocent they were, had seen what he was going to do. They had just become witnesses to a crime… There was only one way this had to end.

“No.” Weiss mumbled in horror, fearful for what the assassin was about to do. And indeed, her suspicions were confirmed. The assassin kept the Senator pinned to the floor before he moved his blaster and aimed it at the family. “NO!”

The child moved deeper behind his mother, now in tears and crying for his mother. The mother herself bent down to comfort her child, but she could not keep her eyes off the killer who was about to shoot them. She constantly begged him not to shoot, letting out a hand and trying to show that she and her child needed each other.

The assassin didn’t listen and had his finger wrapped around the weapon trigger and ready to fire. With no option left, a helpless Weiss and the family covered their eyes; the mother giving her child one last embrace before their impending doom.

Then, at once, the assassin…

…

…

Nothing…

“Huh?” Weiss opened her eyes to see the doomed family. She was certain the assassin had finished them off in cold blood. But to her utter surprise, the mother and child were far from killed.

They were still alive and standing. The mother too looked up, surprised about her survival. What happened to the assassin? Was he not going to shoot? Did he run out of ammo? Or… could it be?

No, Weiss thought. There was no way he could have had hesitated. She had spent that entire ten minutes fighting this assassin who had tried to take her life, engaging her in a merciless duel that ended in the cutting of her left eye and almost driven to the point of her execution.

Then, she looked up to see the assassin with his foot still down on her stomach and blaster aimed at the Ithorian family. And that was it. He just stood there just looking at the family, still as a statue. But nothing had happened. It just stayed that way for a minute.

For a moment, Weiss could have sworn she had seen something quite peculiar. The assassin looked at the Ithorians a little longer before, in a surprising twist, pulled away his blaster, not going to commit his bloody rampage on anyone.

Weiss just stared at the strange occurrence with so much confusion. The Ithorians wasted no time and ran for their lives away from the crime scene. The assassin still stayed put. Weiss couldn’t see it, but if she could, she would have noticed that his head had lowered down, as if he had somehow regretted threatening the mother and child.

However, she had no time to know for sure. Suddenly, there was a soothing sound that relaxed her nerves. It was the sounds of sirens roaring from afar. The assassin noticed this too and looked back at the Senator. Weiss stayed still, again, fearing that she was not out of the woods yet. He could still end her life here and now before anyone could do anything.

But, she had not expected what had happened next. The assassin just lifted his foot away and stepped away from the fallen Schnee. She hesitated a little, but she then lifted herself up to relieve herself of the aching she had taken from being stepped on for that long minute. Her head was down when she clutched her stomach, but when she looked up to face her would-be killer, she was shocked to find that the assailant was nowhere to be found.

He was gone, leaving Weiss behind, shattered and cut up and almost to the point of death. But still, she survived, no more threatened by the assassin in any way. He must had fled the scene before the authorities could even arrive.

Weiss didn’t care though. As curious as she was, why that assassin did not do what was meant for her didn’t matter. Help had arrived and she was lucky enough to survive. But the damage had been done and now she feared that her image would be scarred if she didn’t do anything about the wound in her eye and the explanation for falling victim to her almost-killer to her father.

“Senator Schnee!” Then, she was suddenly called upon by the alarmed voice of her head bodyguard. He was seen running towards her with the utmost concern. The guard stopped in front of her, frantic to know of her condition. “Are you alright, milady?” When he laid his eyes on her face, however, there was only horror. A bleeding trail of blood coming across her left eye. “Your eye…” He could only keep his mouth agape after witnessing the injury sustained to her. Weiss just shook her head, not wanting to discuss further of the humiliating topic.

“I’m fine, captain.” she insisted forcefully. It was not enough to deter the captain of her guard, who continued to show his concern for her.

“But…” The captain tried to voice out, but his words went interrupted as Weiss raised her hand in front of him.

“Captain…” she slowly but strictly said. “I. Am. Fine…” Just watching the Senator’s face of distress was enough to silence the captain. He had no choice but to comply with the heiress’ demand to skip the subject.

“As you wish, milady.” He bowed hesitantly, not wanting to go on any further. But the worries continued to linger in his head. Nevertheless, he returned to accompanying the Senator to safety while the city’s security droids swarmed into the scene to clean up and identify the damages.

Weiss cursed mentally, knowing that she would have to answer some questions once she had recovered from her encounter. She did not want to think about having her father’s corporation paying for the damages done by her scuffle with the assassin.

Speaking of whom, she had wondered who the attacker was. Where did he come from? What was his motive for her killing? If he was a bounty hunter, who would be so cold to put a price on her head? All of her questions really needed to be answered.

“Although I wish I knew of the fiend responsible for the attempt on my life.” she expressed her concern aloud. Then, her thoughts had caught the attention of her captain, who stopped her in her tracks, catching her by surprise.

“What did he look like? What did he want from you?” he asked. Weiss grabbed her eye after some stinging resumed. But she took it like a Schnee and braved the pain. Once she relieved herself of her pain, she continued to answer her loyal captain.

“I don’t know.” she shook her head, feeling unsure of what to make of her attacker. All she could provide were the physical details. “From the looks of it, the assassin appeared to be wearing some combat uniform. He was armed with a blaster and a blade. An ancient blade if you ask me.” She relayed all the information given to her guard and for the last bit, she somehow mentioned to him the more significant details.

“And he was a strange helmet with a T-shaped visor and flew around in a jetpack and…”

“Wait!” Suddenly, her captain spoke in a shocked manner. “Did you say, helmet with a T-shaped visor?” The look on his face indicated much to Weiss. There was something he could had known about what that helmet was and what could it mean for the assassin. She immediately asked him again.

“Captain?” She called for him, but all she got was him walking off, holding his chin as he pondered on. Weiss grew impatient right away, eager to know what he had in mind. “I demand to know what you are implying to.” Finally, after making sure that his suspicions were spot on, he turned back to face the woman he had been chosen to protect.

That was all he was meant to do. Protect Weiss Schnee, and nothing more. But as an associate of the Schnee Mining Corporation, he felt that he needed to report anything involving possible threats against her. Thus, he knew he had to tell Weiss about what he feared would come.

“Your Grace.” he stated. “We have to deliver you back to Solitas immediately.” Weiss thought to herself; yes. That was what she was going to do anyway. However, the urgency was evident in her captain’s face. This could mean something was just not right with the situation. Something… dangerous.

“You are in danger, milady.” the captain continued. “And from what you described your assassin to be, I’m afraid we could be dealing with the worst kind of assassins.”

Now, it was starting to make sense. Weiss knew that of all the possible culprits or threats out there to endanger her and her family, there was only one so ruthless, so merciless that could be described as such by the captain.

“You mean…?” Weiss frowned, afraid. She wanted to hope that her captain had been referring to something else that could be deemed doable in dealing with, but the captain just nodded.

“Yes, milady.” He said, before delivering the answer that sent shivers down Weiss’ spine. “Mandalorians.”

 

* * *

 

Not far from where Weiss had overcome her brush with death, someone else was watching her from afar. Above the rooftops of a nearby building, a lone figure hid behind a power generator, where the shadows concealed him from the blinding spotlight of a passing security hovercraft. Once the vehicle had passed, the figure emerged into the light of a neon sign, revealing himself to be none other than the assassin.

After his failed assassination attempt, he continued to watch his quarry escorted out of the parking lot. He could only shake his head, regretting letting the Senator go.

The assassin, wanting to refresh himself from the stress and frustration of losing his chance of killing the Senator, removed his helmet, revealing his head.

However, after the helmet was taken off, long black hair came dropping down, freed by the compressed space of his helmet. On top of the head, there was a peculiar feature to the assassin.

A pair of feline ears…

And the face was pale and presented somewhat with beauty and softness. But the only thing that stood out were the pair of yellow glowing eyes which looked quite different from any human ones; the irises being smaller like a cat’s. A black headband wrapped around the forehead had a metal plate which also had a symbol like a skull of a narglatch with two tusk-like spikes speared out from the sides.

As it turned out, he… was a she. And she was no ordinary assassin.

The feline assassin leaned back at the power generator, wondering on how she was going to explain her failure to her superiors.

She paced about in her mind, asking herself, what was she thinking?

She was so close to ending the life of her target, fulfilling her needs to ascend to a higher purpose. But she let her go and she now wondered why. There was probably a clear reason why she refused to do any harm.

Those Ithorians. They simply got in the way of her execution of the heiress and the only way she could had removed them as witnesses was to simply end their own lives as well. However, deep within her heart, inside that seemingly heartless form, she just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bring down an innocent family. It was just not her. Or at least, she felt like so.

However, forgetting about the mother and child, she had to think about her inability to end the life of the Schnee she managed to defeat after much fighting. It was her objective and her desire to finish off the Senator herself. But somehow, within all that arrogance and pride, there was something that the assassin found that was… touching. Something that she had never thought she would found in a Schnee.

A concern for others… Something that the assassin could relate to.

Her trance into doubt was then interrupted by the beeping of her communicator. She took it out and responded to the call, projecting the image of a mysterious figure covered completely in black robes and had his face revealed with nothing more than a white mask with red markings and a pair of horns sticking out.

“Blake.” the caller spoke. “Did you successfully terminate the target?” The assassin named Blake Belladona refused to speak to the man with pride, ashamed to even look the man in the eye.

“Negative.” She answered in a quiet reluctant voice. Her uneasiness was easily noticed by the man in the hologram, who was also quick to point out her reluctance.

“You seem hesitant, my dear.” said the red-haired figure. “Did you regret trying to take out the Senator?” His questions were asked in an almost inquisitive way that continued to put Blake in her place. Despite his controlling presence, the black-haired Faunus girl relented, refusing to reveal her true feelings.

“No.” she objected.

“Then what is it?” The figure continued to question her again, but Blake did not give in.

“It’s nothing, Adam.” she insisted. Finally, Adam seemed to have bought it and just let her be. However, one thing remained clear. Blake had failed to accomplish her mission and Adam was not pleased at all.

“Well, this is unfortunate.” he muttered. “Return to the clan immediately. Viszla will not be pleased.” Blake sighed at the mention of that name. It would be an unwelcome trip home when she reached back to Mandalore to report on her failure.

“Yeah, okay. Blake, out.” After complying with the inevitable, Blake had put off her call with Adam and put her communicator back onto her belt. She then looked back at the parking lot, thinking of what could have been her chance to ascend to the ranks of her clan’s honourable warriors, only to lose it because of her inability to make the hard decisions.

Her loyalty to the clan of the White Fang made her the stealthy and merciless assassin she had been trained to be. However, these times were almost heavy on Blake, reminding her of the troubles of her actions that made her somewhat uncomfortable and at worst, actually mortified.

This all brought a brewing question which needed time to be thought over, clouding her mind of her devotion to the cause.

Was being a member of the White Fang really worth it…?

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	3. Black: The Way of the White Fang

**Black: The Way of the White Fang**

The world of Mandalore had seen better days, conflict had left the once-lush planet decimated and almost devoid of life, turning it into a desert world and left its population to take shelter within behind domed cities decorated with cubist artwork and ceremonial dressings to display an ironic beauty in the otherwise war-torn planet.

Mandalore’s past had not been a pretty one. For thousands of years, the Mandalorians were once the scourge of the galaxy. Ever since the time of their ancestors, they were bred to fight. It was their birth right. To conquer and assimilate. It was these dangerous beliefs that prompted them to unleash countless ‘crusades’ throughout the known galaxy, often coming to blows with the Republic and the Jedi over lesser territories.

Then, everything changed when the Mandalorians invaded the Republic full on, culminating in one of the bloodiest conflicts in the galaxy’s history. It was a war that went by many names, but all can agree that the war was probably the most devastating of all the conflicts with the warrior race.

However, after much destruction and death, the Republic, with the help of the Jedi, were able to defeat the Mandalorians and liberate the galaxy, leaving Mandalore itself completely destroyed, not just in physical form, but also in pride.

Soon, after realizing the error of their ways, a split majority of Mandalorians soon decide to put their warrior pasts behind to pursue a more peaceful government. But there were many who continued to preserve their birth right as warriors. And the conflicting forces between the two did not get along well.

A civil war broke out between the peace-loving Mandalorians, who called themselves the New Mandalorians, and the aggressive insurgent forces. But with the leadership of a Duchess for the New Mandalorians, the war had ended. The violence committed on both sides had prompted the New Mandalorians to put an end to violence and call upon the people to embrace their new pacifist way of life.

The planet itself would go on to become a neutral system in the upcoming war that would burn the galaxy apart, maintaining its non-violent ideals and carry on to make life better for everyone.

However, it wasn’t so easy, as not everyone was so fond of the rule of the New Mandalorians. A certain group of Mandalorians grew to despise the new regime, seeing it as a disgrace to the true nature of the Mandalorian way.

And right alongside them, another group of like-minded people would also stand with them against another power in the galaxy…

 

* * *

 

 

Unknown Location,

Concordia,

Mandalore System,

 

Another unsatisfying trip back home for Blake Belladonna, flying off in her Gauntlet fighter towards the desolate planet. Although, she would have preferred to call by its true name, a _Kom’rk_ fighter. She was always so fond of literature that it only seemed fair to keep things as they were to its most significant or symbolic.

According to ancient Mandalorian culture, the word _Kom’rk_ meant ‘death from the skies’. And that was why she preferred that name over ‘Gauntlet’. She was always fascinated with literature and history that she would be willing to maintain the significance of the more symbolic names and references. The only problem was that most of her peers didn’t share her fascination for literate details. The peers she grew to know as her brothers and sisters, united under a single cause.

She flew her fighter into the surface and the stormy clouds that covered the area of her destination. An almost temperate moon, which even with all the arid ground, towering and dry rock formations and very little vegetation devoid of any greens, it looked more of a paradise than the larger desert planet it orbited around.

The _Kom’rk_ passed over a mesa of rock towers and abandoned industrial sites left behind by centuries of post-war recovery and continued on towards a flat expansive landmass with a mountain line just over the distance.

The mountain plateau had a large crack right in the middle where a metal platform could be seen deep within the dark opening. Its huge and wide size and with it sticking out of the crack indicated that it would serve as a landing platform for any transport to dock onto.

The complex where the landing platform was connected via a built-in walkway looked rusty and broken with what little light shining being rather dim, not bright enough to light up the dark shadows of the crevice, making the building seem abandoned and unused for some time. Deactivated oil drills and tanks also indicate the building being an industrial complex.

Yet, even with the building’s inactive and aged condition, Blake still flew her fighter right into the crevice and began the landing sequence on the platform. Once close enough, she put a slow stop to her engines, pushed down on the brakes and allowed her ship’s wing to flip upwards to a stationary position. The fighter neared closer to the platform and opened out its landing gear, approaching the middle of the circle where she finally touched down.

Steam from the cooling system shot right out from the landing gear as the boarding ramp of the fighter dropped down from the rear. Blake walked out of the ship, choosing to keep her helmet on and hoping to conceal her disappointment from her fellow members.

She was welcomed by a group of similarly-dressed comrades at the landing platform as soon as she exited the ship. Four of them wore identical white armour similar to Blake’s, but without the jetpack she used. They did wear different helmets, all of them being unique from one another.

The last of the group stood in the middle, clad with black armour and a large cape coming down his back with a red outline. He wore a helmet with two horns etched out and his visor was shaped with the two sides of the ‘T’ being like a pair of furious eyes. He presented the image of violence and hatred, despite his calm and slow stride.

As Blake came down, she could see the tall dark figure among the group and sighed deeply. She could not bear to speak to the man, simply because she was unsure of how to put her failure. She didn’t fear the man, but she knew if she expressed any doubt to her cause, she would be met with unwelcome reception from her peers. She approached the warrior just as he stopped to look at her crossly. Blake opened up her helmet, revealing her face. She rolled her eyes at the sight of the otherwise fearsome man in front of her. As she did so, the warrior also took off his helmet, revealing himself to be the one she had been in contact with on Coruscant.

Adam Taurus.

Blake just looked at him without a word. She may had been humiliated, but the man was a great deal for her. He was something of a mentor figure and, possibly something more. At least, that was what she felt at that point.

“So… you return, my dear.” he stated.

“I have.” she spoke. The word ‘dear’ not felt like how it should be, but she took it to heart anyway. “I… failed.”

“It matters not.” The man said without any disappointment, causing Blake to shift her head up in surprise. “What matters is that we have an important meeting to attend to. We must have our best warriors to attend.” Blake cringed her eyes, knowing what was about to come.

“So, we got some new blood?” she asked.

“Tons of them.” Adam answered for her. “Come. We must not keep our guests waiting.” Blake just nodded, not wanting to speak more of her mission.

“So, who do you think they’ll send today to welcome the newcomers?” asked Blake, hoping to change the subject.

“My bet’s on Aran. He always comes to initiate these things.” Yep, there was always the typical messenger of their higher-ups on Mandalore, who they’d love to poke fun at whenever he received the bulk of threats from the newcomers who would scowl at the sight of a human in their midst. Blake, however, thought it would be someone even more important, given Adam’s description of how many new recruits were attending the initiation.

“Who knows? Maybe it’ll be someone else. Someone more powerful.” suggested Blake. She was getting quite relieved that her conversation was getting elsewhere from her failed mission. They resumed their walk into the main building stuck into the rock walls, its large doors guarded at the sides by two more White Fang members, their arms crossed and watching out for any unwelcomed guests. When Adam and Blake arrived in between them, they bowed to greet them; one of them signalling to another guard at a watch tower to open the entrance leading into the complex.

“Like who? Their leader himself?” Adam retorted, referring to the man who brought them to where they were now. “Please. He has other concerns trying to plan his move on the other clans. Word is, he’s going to bring another clan to his cause.”

“Clan Wren, I assume?” asked Blake again. “I heard they were gaining some power within the government.”

“And he will use that to consolidate his own power.” Blake tapped her fingers to her other arm, cringing at Adam’s aspiration for the organization. “I sure hope everything will change for us today.” Blake nodded, agreeing to her partner’s words. But for some reason, she just wasn’t sure about it.

The truth was, she wasn’t so sure the organization was living up to its goals. Blake was unlike any human in existence. She was in fact, a different kind of one. She was a Faunus. Described as humans with animal-like features, both by physical shape and behaviour, the Faunus had not seen the brightest days in the galaxy.

No one could really explain the existence of the Faunus, as did most other ancient mysteries. They just sort of appeared throughout the galaxy, and once they did, the rest of the galaxy’s species began to fear them, as if they were nothing more than dangerous animals. And it was downright frustrating because Blake could not understand why even other aliens feared them when they were different themselves.

And once they found out that the Faunus were just common folk like them, they began to turn their anger on them, punishing them by giving them the harshest forms of treatment only a Hutt could enjoy. Hard labour, slave trades, portrayals of disgust and filth, the Faunus were the laughing stock of the galaxy during those old times.

Then, the Republic came. Laws were enacted to ensure that crimes against the Faunus would be squashed. However, as time passed on and in these times of corruption, separation and conflict, very little had been done to see through these laws.

And that’s what made Blake very furious of the Republic, and a certain company in mind. It was easy to see why she agreed to locate and kill Senator Weiss Schnee back on Coruscant. Things could have been avoided, Blake thought, if it weren’t for the Senator’s father.

Everything the Schnee family had done to her kind, forcing them to continue becoming slaves to do the dirty work and become increasingly ridiculed by the public of Solitas. And because of their importance to the galactic market, even the Republic is unable to restrict their questionable quests for riches and power. For all of these reasons, Blake had every reason to be angry at the Corporation for belittling and destroying the good will the Faunus had. That was why she decided to make a difference…

However, she had always felt very safe that the organization would only target those who would intend on harming her kind, namely the Schnee and other low-lives like smugglers, slavers, and bounty hunters. Even the Hutts were occasional targets at some point. All of these within Mandalorian Space with the organization preying upon anyone unfortunate enough to stumble into their reach.

But even with these specific targets and more, Blake started to notice a rise in attacks upon more targets over the years. The White Fang was beginning to expand its attacks and soon, they started to break out on territories bordering with Mandalorian Space.

What made her more fearful was the fact that the organization had also begun to increase its violence factor upon their victims. First, it used to be silent and quick assassinations or simple sabotages on supply convoys or structures of importance. Now, the killings committed were now more widespread, done with more open strikes and attacks, disregarding public attention.

These actions made Blake very worried. If the White Fang continued to grow to become more radical, then the Republic would be sure to react with force. They had already been labelled as a hostile threat by the Republic and that made the discrimination against the Faunus all the worse. She was unsure of what to make of the rising violence within her organization, questioning its role in helping the Faunus achieve the rights they deserved.

This wasn’t looking like a fight for equality, but rather an all-out act of terrorism. She hoped that the organization would slow down its advances, but with their numbers rising, especially in today’s case, she knew it was going to take quite a long while for the White Fang to fall back.

She carried on into the building, following her superior with more White Fang members following behind. The messy hallway, filled with pipes along the ceiling and generators deactivated, showed more of the building’s dead state for so long. Only now, it’s being occupied by more White Fang members all dressed in white battle armour and some wearing their own helmets as well.

Blake saw in front of her a huge crowd of younger individuals who were not wearing any of the battle armour the other members did. Instead, they all wore different clothing; some casual, most others shabby and dirty. Blake could had sworn she saw a few dressed in fancy attires, something out of place in an otherwise shady and abandoned location. Still, the line looked huge; Blake estimating it at around fifty or more. And from the looks of everyone, they all had a certain animal feature each; narglatch tail, kaadu bill, rancor skin; she could name it all. This was indeed a large gathering of Faunus huddled up into the wide open room ahead.

Everyone in the crowd wore a piece of white eyewear that stretched across the face like a blindfold, but had a thin black visor to give them their sight. This was to determine their status as new recruits ready to begin their first day at the White Fang. There was no telling where these freshmen came from, but one thing was certain. When the White Fang started spreading the word of their cause, these were among thousands who joined their ranks.

Everyone, including Blake and Adam followed the crowd into the large meeting hall, which was once a lobby area completely transformed with a stage at the opposite end of the room and White Fang symbols and flags all around.

On top of the stage, a tall White Fang sergeant, identified by the more vibrant markings on his helmet, overlooked the crowd as they were herded in front of them. Blake and Adam moved to one side of the room as did the other official members who took it to all other sides of the room, leaving the gathering of recruits in the middle. The sergeant came forward to deliver a welcoming speech to a glorious fight for glory and freedom.

“Fellow brothers and sisters of the White Fang!” “It is with great honour and dignity that I welcome, today, the one who would promise us true victory and freedom over the pestilence of those who oppose our kind!”

Said guest came from behind the sergeant as he shifted to the side to reveal the figure coming forward. The warrior wore the same armour as the White Fang soldiers, only with a long-sleeved combat sweater underneath the armour. The body was curvy and slim, suggesting a female character in the room.

Once the helmet was taken off, all eyes among the recruits were widened in shock when they found out that the visitor was nothing like them at all. She was a human. A young woman with short combed red hair and kept neat with a silver hairband. She greeted the audience with a silent grin to show them her satisfaction of their attendance.

Unfortunately, the presence of this human was not so welcomed by the new recruits who had been appalled by her appearance, baffled that a human could just enter their premises and smug about it.

“What the-?!” one of the recruits yelled.

“What is a human doing here?!” another added.

“Why are we welcoming her? She is one of them!” Soon, it became a riot as the whole room was blasted with the noisy cries of unhappy White Fang hopefuls; all jeering at the sight of their despised enemy. However, the more experienced White Fang all just stared at them with amusement, knowing that they would all get the picture soon enough.

And they would right now…

**BWUIM!**

The woman fired up a warning shot to the ceiling with her blaster pistol. The loud booming noise within the echoing room sent a soundwave loud enough to silence the whole crowd, who most reeled back from the shock while others just straight up shut their mouths.

The warrior looked around the frightened crowd for any more signs of protest or even disapproval, in case anyone had anything else to say about her presence.

“Any further objections?” She warned everyone as she scanned for a while to find that everyone was finally forced enough to pay attention. She then withdrew her weapon away into her holster before she began her speech.

“I come in peace. I am not the type of person you think I am because not all ‘humans’ or any other being in the galaxy hate you.” She looked all around, still seeing the doubtful expressions in their faces. “We are more in common than you think. Allow me to introduce myself.”

Blake spectated the charm and passion of this warrior as she instilled her might over the audience. Deep inside, she didn’t really like where this was going, seeing that this was going to be another session of war-mongering glorification.

“I am Bo-Katan. I am part of the brotherhood of warriors who brought you here to fight for the freedom of your people. If you really don’t believe me, then you are free to leave.” “Then again, we all know what happens to disgruntled deserters here in the White Fang, do we not?”

After her ‘generous’ offer, no one seemed to bother defying her word. They were simply letting the fact that even thinking about running away from the place could be their last thought, seep into their fearful minds. They said nothing, which was all Bo-Katan needed to carry on.

“Let me remind that we are here in good faith. We are the liberators who shall help you punish those who sought to use you as slaves. Servants.” Before she finished with her sentence, she took a brief second to let the emotion wait for the right moment to be expressed to her spectators.

“Cannon fodder.” She finally said with pure disdain. At this point, her words managed to catch the people’s attention, sync with their own hatred of a huge majority of other galactic beings who made them trash. “Which is why we welcome you today. In open arms. To this circle of brethren who shall exact our revenge against your oppressors and give you what even the Republic couldn’t.”

Soon, her rousing speech began to pick up momentum. The young and advocate followers, one by one, were now slowly understanding this human, who actually understood their plight and their hatred for the many species in the galaxy for putting them in such a light.

“They were supposed to bring an end to your unfortunate sufferings, but they had failed. For far too long, you had continued to go through torment after torment, living a life of unforgiving negligence and ungrateful brutality.”

And now, the crowd was roaring with anger and frustration, hate for the Republic and all of non-Faunus kind fuelling their cries as they cheered on for this human to press on to what they would do to get back at the galaxy.

“I assure you that my brotherhood stands with you. We have our goals aligned. Once we end the Republic and take what is rightfully ours, we shall provide you with the glory you so deserve!”

Everyone’s cheers became louder and louder, bellowing their war cries as they applauded for Bo-Katan’s power over them. All except Blake. This is what she feared the most. Now, the White Fang was now going from bad to worse. The attacks would now be more violent, the threat imposed becoming larger. It seemed now that nothing could stop them from reaching out to commit more of the atrocities she dreaded to even think about.

She could only look to the one partner and mentor she held in high regard. Surely, even with his own reason to distrust the galaxy, he must have had some kind of empathy for the falling image of the White Fang, she hoped. Adam had the power and will over the organization. He would have to stop this, or all of Faunus kind would forever be tarnished.

“You may not like it now, but soon enough, you will learn to understand that you are not just part of the White Fang. You are part of something greater. Something that shall bring us to the heights of true power!”

And with the loudest cheers the crowd could give, Bo-Katan put on her helmet. Then, behind her, four more of her fellow brothers joined in, taking their places at her side to show the whole room where their place stood and their goals fully assured. Blake huffed out in despair, knowing that this would be the moment she hoped would never come.

“Welcome… to Death Watch! And we are going to finally have our way against our enemies!”

 

* * *

 

 

Blake was now standing at a catwalk, alone. She leaned her arms over the catwalk, watching the commotion that was going on below. She silently observed from above the hurrying and messy assembly of the recruits as they were herded into a few large transports to be delivered to the main base where they would be trained by some of Death Watch’s fiercest trainers.

Blake grew very unsure about what the future beheld for these young individuals. She wasn’t even sure if many of them would even survive the harsh training and even more so, the acts of violence they would commit against their enemies.

Was this really what the White Fang hoped to achieve? To spread terror to the Republic and provoke more discrimination to the Faunus? If you asked her, Blake thought that the organization would prove to be no better than the forces against her kind. It was bad enough that Mandalore was attempting to hunt them down, but now it seemed the Republic could end up being a bigger problem.

She had to find a way to convince them to cease their aggressive ways and go back to the way it was, where Faunus were fighting for actual equality than delusional dominance.

She heard the faint footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around and saw Adam approaching her. She always knew that Adam, being an assassin and all, had to walk silently at any costs. Thanks to her heightened sense of hearing though, she could already tell his exact position. A trait most Faunus like her had grown to value in battle.

“You seemed troubled, my dear.” Adam calmly told her, noticing the worried look on her face. However, even with the kind gesture, Blake refused to utter a word. Adam moved to hold her chin gently, coaxing the girl to feel heartened by his caring touch. “What’s bothering you?”

Even then, there was nothing she could say to him. There was just too much in her mind to speak out to him. She worried that if she told him of what she was concerned about, and what she wanted him to do, he might feel threatened of her opposition. How would he take it? Would he be furious? She hated the thought of upsetting him to the point of betrayal.

“Come on. You can tell me.” His voice was just too tempting for her. She knew Adam was an understanding man, despite his deadly abilities. He was the one who took her in when her own family hadn’t. She was always grateful to Adam for helping her and she would be loyal to him during her missions. And in return, he would respect her for being a devoted partner.

Perhaps she could trust him to listen to her. Maybe he would trust her to be honest.

“I’m not sure if this is what we were supposed to be doing.” She finally confided. “Sure, attack slave traders and corrupt officials at our own borders. But attacking the Republic?” She then fell silent, unsure if she should continue. Taking in more courage, she finished her sentence. “Adam, I’m just worried for what we really stand for now. Everyone would think of us as lower than we are now.”

Adam looked away from Blake. The feline assassin was now sure that she had struck a nerve at this point. She lowered her head in shame, hoping that she had not offended her partner too much.

“Blake.” Then, Adam muttered to her. Blake squinted her eyes as if she was ready for a full-on scolding from the White Fang leader. Instead, the warrior came to her with full understanding. “I know you feel pressured about all of this, but if we let our enemies continue to harass our kind, things will only get worse for us.” He then stretched his arms to grab her shoulders to help her listen further. “If the Republic can’t help us, then we have to take actions to ourselves.”

“So, you’re not going to do anything to stop our aggression?” she asked.

“I’ll do what I can to make sure we don’t go too far, but I’m not promising anything.” answered Adam reluctantly.

It was not the answer Blake wanted to hear, but at least it was something she could try to comprehend. Maybe the White Fang wouldn’t change so quickly, but she could take comfort in knowing that they would find a way to slowly go back to the way it was supposed to be. No more killing. No more sabotage. It was going to be the old peaceful approach through negotiations and protests to give the Faunus a voice rather than a crosshair to the head.

With Blake barely content, Adam finally left the area to continue with his business, leaving his partner behind to ponder on. Before he could leave, he turned around to give Blake one more set of words.

“I assure you, Blake. We will have our cause fulfilled. The Faunus shall no longer be threatened nor ruled over. We shall have our place in the galaxy.” Finally, Adam had finally decided to move on, disappearing from Blake’s sight and earshot.

The White Fang huntress stood on, going back to watching the young newbies being loaded to the last transport to the headquarters of Death Watch. Even with the belief that Adam could help lower the damage done to their enemies, Blake had to wonder if it would be enough to keep the White Fang on a safe level of danger from the Republic or any major organization.

 

* * *

 

 

_ DAYS LATER _

Blake remained on their hideout in Concordia after some time mainly to scout the area for any trespassers or spies who could be locking into their position. So far for the past few months, there hadn’t been any intruders for miles around. Concordia’s abandoned mines were good as done for all the galaxy knew.

After her recent patrol, she just resorted to staying back at base to polish up her weapons and then, as always, take out a good book or two to indulge herself in. The ones she read definitely inspired her.

 _Vode An_ and _Love and Rakghouls: Curse of the Murr Talisman_.

But right now, she was just strolling around the landing pad, just outside the Starfighter she had just used to hunt down the Senator of Solitas. Her arms crossed and right fingers tapping on her left shoulder, she let time pass while waiting for news of Adam’s return from yet another raid. She sincerely hoped that Adam had agreed to soften his assaults in Mandalorian Space to avoid Republic involvement.

Though, she wouldn’t mind him plucking a few hairs or more out of a member of the Schnee Mining Corporation. No one could blame Blake for hating the Schnees. After all, if there was anyone who would take great satisfaction from ruining the lives of the Faunus, the Schnee family was definitely the worst.

Ever since the company’s founding almost after the Mandalorian defeat at the hands of the Jedi, the Schnees had seized the opportunity to take in her ancestors as slaves to carry out their mining operations. The treatment was beyond excruciating and painful that even the most devoted Faunus slave was nothing but a piece of trash. It was that very cruelty that sparked Faunus aggression to perform acts of revolt and resistance. There was even a small skirmish between Solitas and Faunus workers in a small moon where the company was mining some rare minerals from. The workers won and the Republic began to intervene, but the influence of the mining company seemed too powerful to give the conflict any significant impact.

Needless to say, no one was being much a help. That all changed when the White Fang came. For once, Blake began to feel that the formation of a Faunus rights movement would be the very thing the Faunus could have to make their voices heard, restoring hope for her kind across the galaxy. Unfortunately, even the promise of political influence was being downplayed by the growing crisis involving systems leaving the Republic and the eventual declaration of war by the Senate.

With no other option, the White Fang began to become even more desperate for breaking out of their discrimination and started to result to more violent and destructive methods to realize their goals. However, Blake wasn’t so convinced. Even as a child, she had become involved in the White Fang’s plans for Faunus rights. But soon, she became inspired by one such individual who began to have much power over the organization.

Adam was indeed a powerful warrior, so it seemed natural that he was chosen to lead the White Fang. Blake simply grew to love his charm and charisma over the masses, and was even more grateful for guiding her through the path of the Fang.

Time went by, though, and Blake was not liking the direction the organization was taking. She really wanted Adam to make a difference and help the White Fang become more aligned to what it once was. She tolerated the attacks on their enemies within Mandalorian Space, so she didn’t need anything else beyond that.

Unfortunately, Death Watch came. A group of exiled Mandalorians who wished to seek revenge against the current rulers of their home planet who they viewed as a disgrace to their warrior culture. In some way, both the White Fang and Death Watch had goals aligned. Death Watch wanted to dispose of Mandalore’s government and restore their past, while the White Fang considered Mandalore as one of its hostile locations after many cases of prejudicial crimes were committed there.

After many years, it was the perfect chance for both parties to ally with one another. And Blake’s fears grew from that point on. But she was glad that the White Fang had some goals that helped it differentiate itself from the Mandalorian warriors, and she preferred to keep it that way. Once Mandalore would be taken by Death Watch, the White Fang would proceed to get the equal rights they would need. That was all she could ask for.

So, while Adam was out on his mission, Blake could do nothing but wait. She would probably try to call a friend of hers who was stationed on another secret base in Concord Dawn. Alas, she just stood idly, waiting for something to happen that would require her attention. She even thought about talking to Adam about what she could for him in the future.

Perhaps… maybe… Confess?

Her thoughts were snapped out as she then heard the whirring sounds in the air. She looked to see that Adam’s transport had returned from their mission. The large transport landed down on another landing platform on the opposite side of Blake’s ship’s own.

She walked over the platform to witness the departure of her partner and more of her fellow members from the ship. Then, she noticed some extra guests behind her comrades.

Behind Adam in two straight lines, there were men dressed in armour and also wearing metal helmets, but with square goggles. They all had their hands tied behind their backs, hunched down with their heads facing the ground. Blake recognized the plain grey colourings and the design of their armours. They were soldiers of Mandalore. The Mandalore the White Fang had been trained to fight. The Mandalore that became a prime obstacle in their activities ever since Death Watch allied themselves with the organization.

This was something Blake had never seen before. Usually, if Adam would take prisoners, he’d sent them to Concord Dawn or any other White Fang base in the system. Bringing them here in their main and most important base was something uncommon.

Blake felt like ignoring the roundup of the prisoners. Usually, prisoners would be used as ransom to be traded for useful goods that might help the White Fang earn some credits to fund their campaigns. Mandalorian officials seemed to be the favourite as prisoner exchanges often proved quite fruitful.

However, the cat in her couldn’t help but feel tempted to find out what was going on. She would like to know what the price would be this time and get a good look at how the negotiations would go by.

More importantly, though was the urge to ask Adam whether how he had carried out this mission and captured the prisoners, as well as the aftermath of their strike. So after wasting almost half an hour of waiting, she decided to take a trip down to meet Adam and see where this event was heading.

She got off from the landing platform and walked into the building to meet up with Adam and watch the deals being made.

Blake through the complex towards the landing platform where the prisoners were being loaded off into the base, finding the room where they had gone from the platform itself. Throughout the rusty and dusty mining building, she could hear some silent grunts coming from a room of the base near the transport’s landing platform.

Once she reached the room where Adam was inspecting his catches of the day, Blake couldn’t help but peek over the wall and watch on from behind. She saw Adam, walking around the line of prisoners now forced to kneel with their hands still tied to their backs. As he stepped around, he was constantly fixing his head onto every single one of their faces. Blake could see them riddled with fear as they couldn’t look up at him. Behind the prisoners, there were a few White Fang members standing guard facing the prisoners’ backs. Blake knew this was one of Adam’s policies where he would give the prisoners a very intimidating reminder of escape or any other intention of retaliation.

Despite the hostile standoff, Blake had nothing to worry about. She knew deep down that he wouldn’t straight up kill them. Even if the White Fang were allied to Death Watch, who had made the current Mandalorian government an enemy, the White Fang were not above murderous towards potential prisoners, only resulting to killing when they attempted to strike first. So, Blake continued to hide there, not wanting to disturb Adam, while at the same time, looking on.

“You dared to trespass into White Fang territory.” Adam spoke fiercely to the hostages with a voice that sent shivers down their spines. “And then, what did you do next? You killed more of our brethren. How many more Faunus lives must we lose to make you listen?!”

Blake furrowed her brows in anger when Adam yelled about the lives lost in his previous encounter with these Mandalorian soldiers. None of them had the courage to even whimper. Adam’s terrifying gaze kept them silent and horrified of a swift death. However, one of them did have the guts to speak up to his captor with loyalty for his ruler.

“You were the ones intruding in Mandalorian Space.” he defied with no fear. “This entire system is under the protection of her Royal Highness, Duchess Satine of Mandalore. We have been given orders to engage the White Fang with force.”

That defiance was only met with a hard smack to the back of his head by one of the White Fang members who angrily bashed the soldier with the butt of his rifle.

“You dare mock our order?!” he screamed at the hit soldier, frightening the other soldiers. He was about to do some more damage to him, but he was stopped by the cold hand of Adam Taurus prompting him to stop.

“That’s enough, men.” he calmly ordered his underling. Finally, once the attention was back at him, Adam bent down to the same soldier and stared at him. “I will show you what happens to our enemies now.”

Blake could definitely hear what Adam said. She was expecting Adam to be given a nice lesson of pain and torture that usually involved a slash of the sword to his face. Nothing lethal, but it would put the victim in such agony that he would learn to be silenced.

So, Adam pulled out his vibrosword from his holster and proceeded to aim for the soldier. Just one slash at the mouth would silence the arrogant soldier for good.

**SHINK!**

Adam slashed the prisoner… at the neck.

Blake gasped, witnessing the shock of her entire life. Blood was slowly coming out of the cut as the body then slumped forward as a lifeless husk. Adam just standing there, feeling no remorse for his action. With the nod of his head, the rest of the White Fang members too complied. They raised their rifles, aimed them at the rest of the prisoners…

And fired…

All prisoners were now dead. Executed in cold blood.

Blake could not believe what had happened. Sheer fear and betrayal fuelled inside, wishing that all she was seeing was nothing more than a dream or hallucination. No matter how much she wanted to snap out of it, she was still going back to the same scene. It was all too real.

The White Fang had gone down the road to ruin from the moment they began to become a more dangerous threat, and now she was seeing the full extent of the terror they were willing to spread. They had killed without even showing mercy towards their captives. It was the final piece of the puzzle of knowing what the White Fang’s true intentions were.

Adam even showed no pity for the fallen bodies of the executed, putting away his sword and looking at his guards to clean up the mess.

“Get rid of this trash.” Blake shivered tensely upon hearing the coldness in his voice. No, not the tone that brought humour and suave. This one came as pure sinister-like, evil and coarse, filled with hatred. It was like nothing Blake had ever felt before in him. She didn’t know what to do with him now that she had seen his true colours.

She was so blur and numb inside that she did not realize that she could be well seen at the entrance by none other than the cold-blooded killer who had just revealed himself to her.

“Blake?” Adam was just in front of Blake while she was being traumatized by that sudden act of murder he and her fellow members had done. When she did hear his voice, she stared at him with disbelief. He was coming at her with the same friendly stride looking to comfort her from whatever was bothering her. Unfortunately, there was no fooling Blake, for she was now looking at the face of a killer.

“Adam…” Blake stuttered, riddled with fear. The feeling almost stunned her again, forcing her to not speak to him. Adam’s worried expression in turn became even chillier, knowing what Blake was going through. He didn’t like the look on her face, wanting to make sure she knows her place, as opposed to his apparent kindness prior to the current events.

“Why, Adam?” Finally, Blake had broken out of her frozen state. What took over was just as unlikely as her frightened feelings. Something boiling within that pushed her to the breaking point. She was so betrayed, so riled up. She wanted to let it all out in a fit of fiery emotions, almost even wanting to lash out and vent out her frustration and confusion at Adam.

Rage… Rage was all that she had inside of her.

“Why did you kill them?!” Her shrill yell echoed through the complex, surely to catch the attention of everyone inside. Even Adam was shocked by the sudden outburst of anger on him. However, he was prepared for the moment she would see him for who he really was and he was about to teach her a thing or two about his true mission. To see that Faunus-kind would see the day where they would get their revenge on the galaxy. He shook his head with a firm belief that what he was doing was the rightful path he would take.

“It was the only way.” he coldly said to her, fully cementing his dark image to her. The feline assassin grew even more hurt. She couldn’t believe her eyes and now she had to hear for herself the cruelty of Adam’s terror.

“What?” She was now beyond bewildered, realizing that this was no longer the Adam she knew. The Adam she actually… loved. The man she admired all this time was now a man she learned to fear. “But Adam…” When she tried to reason with him, she was only caught off by a loud yell from Adam, angered by her reluctant stand against him.

“The only way for us to achieve our rightful place is to become one with Death Watch!” Adam’s powerful shout made Blake even more scared. All the anger was blown at her like a violent hurricane pressing inside her body.

“But… you said we…” She tried to remain strong and she went with another powerful argument back at Adam. “But what about the Faunus? What would they be now that you’ve decided to commit terrorism on the Republic?! You are making us nothing more than violent barbarians!” Even as Blake yelled back, Adam was ready to give her the most straightforward and angriest response to her undermining of his cause.

“You really think trying to fight for some rights is going to solve our plight? Do you expect our voices alone to be enough to convince the galaxy of our right to be here? That only through peace can there be victory?!” He turned around, remembering the one time the White Fang attempted to talk their way to settle matters. “The last time we tried, it ended up letting that damn Schnee company destroy an entire colony on Gargon! So, think about it now, Blake! Whenever we do try, someone always gets back at us. Ten-fold!”

The more rage Adam expressed, the more intimidated Blake was. At this point, she was starting to see the Adam she loved fade away, consumed by a new form of evil who had no mercy in his heart. She was listening to a demon out to destroy and maim the galaxy. Adam had become a monster in her eyes.

“We have to step in or we will remain the scum of the galaxy for good. We must show the galaxy what happens when they toy with us. We will destroy all who oppose us, and let our name be known as the very last thing they see before we get our revenge!”

After his last sentence, silence filled the room. Blake was unable to even utter a word. She had heard it all come out of Adam, but she couldn’t find the words to show how much she felt about him now. She hoped that she would never had to see this, but the White Fang was about to desecrate the name of the Faunus for the worse.

Still frightened by Adam’s rage and the fate of the White Fang and all for Faunus kind, Blake didn’t try to say anything. She wanted to run, get out of this mess of things and never return to leave behind the betrayal and sins that her own comrades were about to commit. Unfortunately, when she was about to make the run for it, Adam realized her steps, watching her creeping backwards while still facing him. He saw this as a sign of cowardice and ultimate betrayal. A White Fang member running away from the cause was considered unacceptable in his eyes.

“Blake.” he called out to her, trying to stop her from making a foolish mistake. “Don’t you run away.” His cries became even more sadistic, demanding Blake to remain in place, or she would suffer the consequences. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about running away!”

Blake didn’t even want to know what Adam would do to her if she continued to become disobedient. Adam’s commanding cry was still petrifying to her. Part of her refused to object him, but at the most part, she was very much afraid of him, desiring to rid herself of him. She spun around to look away from his enraged look and flee from his sight. However, if she did anything, she had the idea that Adam would stop her by any means. Whatever he would do, she didn’t want to go through with the punishment.

It came down to a choice. It was either run… Or fight…

“I’m sorry, Adam.” After hesitating for a brief second, she made her choice. “But this is not me.” She bent down, as if looking to run away, but instead of running away, she did just the opposite. She ran… Forward; towards Adam. “NEVER!”

She leapt forward with her blade drawn and heading straight for her former mentor and love interest. Adam was bewildered by the surprise attack and quickly drew his own long red sword to defend himself. Within a split second, he managed to stop the black sword from slicing him. The two were now locked in a flustering clash, each side pushing against the other.

Adam stared at Blake’s face as he blocked her attempt. He could see the anger now in full force. Her irises were thinned like a beast lusting for food. Her teeth were gritted and he could make out the jaws pushing against each other, showing even more of her ferocity. The strength she was forcing on him was almost too much for him to bear. Her aggravation was beyond anything he had ever felt in her, even a Schnee wouldn’t compel her to lash out.

But Adam didn’t falter. Rather, he enjoyed Blake’s flustered rage, energized by her anger and her will to fight. She was truly embracing the spirit of a White Fang member for she was going to go all out and defeat him. Blake had to defeat Adam if she wanted to find a way to restore order and bring the White Fang back to what it originally fought for. If this was what she wanted, then Adam would let her have her chance, but he believed it would end with her ultimate punishment.

Blake poured in all her strength before pushing herself away from the lock between blades, flipping backwards and landing gracefully while Adam spun back once before facing his now ex-partner in a duel to decide whose cause was going to prevail. The rest of the White Fang members present just stood there, choosing not to interfere in a power struggle between two of their most prominent leaders, though some of them secretly wished Adam would win due to their shared ideals.

Blake ran first, dashing at Adam with her blade aiming right for him. She immediately swung her blade once in range, which the leader easily blocked the attack. Blake followed up with another swing to the other side and Adam also parried the strike with an easy swing of his own. She did another slash, batting it from the right in a heavy swing. This time, it was a little more successful than her previous attacks, being strong enough to knock Adam off balance as he moved his sword to defend. He spun back weakly from the force of the blow with his back against her.

Blake saw her chance while Adam’s defence was broken. She drew hew blaster out and fired at him, letting loose a trio of energy bolts in a line. Within a split second however, Adam saw the blaster fire heading for him. For the first two shots, he shifted here and there, dodging the shots with extreme speed. The third shot he saw, he was able to regain balance and used his sword to reflect the shot.

Blake cursed mentally inside, her opportunity wasted by Adam’s sudden agility. The man took his turn and raised his arm straight towards her, revealing a steel gauntlet with a small cannon attached. He fired a couple of little metal shuriken stars, spinning for her head and threatening to bore through her flesh. She ducked down fast enough to avoid being struck by the fast stars only to have strands of her hair sliced off by the incoming projectiles. Blake then wasted no more time and fired her blaster with more anger in her grip. Adam blocked more shots and flipped to the side to gain a new angle on her. Once Blake finished shooting, he immediately raced for her and swung his weapon.

They engaged in another brewing sword fight, though it was Adam who had more of the offensive. He kept up the attacks, lashing out on Blake strike after strike, forcing Blake back step by step while she defended herself. Blake had a harder time blocking his attacks, with the warrior’s sword slashes being just as fast as hers, but were even heavier. After two or more strikes, she had to move away after being thrown off by his stronger slashes. After a few slashes, Adam delivered a hard kick to her stomach, causing her to flip away from the clash of blades.

Knowing she won’t do much good on the ground, Blake activated her jetpack and hovered over the room in a loud burst. Adam looked over him, waiting for Blake to make the next move on him from above. Blake shifted her body to the right, strafing sideways while aiming her blaster at Adam. She fired her weapon at his head, anticipating a height advantage would secure a good shot at him. Alas, even while flying, Adam showed that he didn’t need a jetpack of his own, deflecting each shot effortlessly.

Blake groaned at the apparent failure of her fly-by attacks. The jetpack was a gift from Death Watch she didn’t hesitate to accept because it would serve as a great advantage over most of her foes. Due of the loud booming sounds of the rocket boosters ruining her stealthy approaches, she would only use it for open conflicts such as this, where she would come out on top over anyone she fought. This time, however, her opponent was still proficient in his defence like a Jedi wielding a lightsaber.

She then stopped firing her weapon after failing to do any damage, pushing herself all the way towards Adam and swung her blade with a heavy swing at him from the air. The force of her strike would be enough to knock him off his feet or brush away his sword from his grip. With one full burst of speed, she crashed her sword onto his own. Adam felt the blasting force acting upon him, dragging him back as he pushed himself to the limit as well. In the end, it was yet another equal clash of forces. The next second, Blake pushed upwards and front flipped over Adam to try and strike him from behind. Once again, Adam spun around and blocked her attack before doing another round of sword strikes against her.

For the next few minutes, they glided around the room with swords swinging at each other like a dance of death with the climax ending in someone’s brutal execution. They slashed and clashed on and on, both putting up an equal amount of skill, grace and precision with both attack and defence.

Then, everything came to a head when Adam decided to break her off. After separating himself from her attacks, he grabbed his wrist gauntlet and once again aimed it at Blake. While Blake was expecting another few shuriken from the launcher, she was suddenly cut off as a burst of flames was fired out instead. A deadly flamethrower towards her face forced her to bend her body down and avoid the stream of fire, letting the heat sear her back. Blake had her head down when she ducked down, unable to see Adam prepare for his eventual strike on Blake. When she rose, it was too late to respond… Adam used his blaster and shot her at the chest, sending her thrown to the ground.

The blast mark she sustained was only able to burn her, having protected by the _beskar_ -clad armour covering her body, but Adam’s blaster was always known to be very powerful, enough to break through most metals. With enough firepower to at least burn through Blake’s armour, it was still enough to injure her. She held the wound, pressing her hand roughly on it to relieve the stinging pain. As she was doing that, Adam was already running towards her with his sword ready to slice through her. She hurriedly thrust her sword to her front in a desperate attempt to shield herself. The sword hit her blade, but with her injury weakening her, she had to use her left hand to hold up her weapon. While she had to use both hands to push against Adam’s blade, the injury on her chest was still hurting her as the itching need to massage the pain was making her left hand twitch, wanting to hold the chest wound.

Adam gave one cold smirk before he used his right leg to swipe off the sword of her hand while she was distracted by her wound. Then, to add up to her injury, he gave one swift kick to the chest. She felt the pain pierce through her as Adam’s foot thrust her off her balance, with Blake then falling on her back on the floor.

As she laid on the floor, Blake was now even more hurt by the kick. Her whole body was now encumbered by the pain spread out after the hit to the wound. All she could do was strain her muscles to reduce the pain and squirm about while she was still grounded on the floor. Adam scoffed at the pitiful sight of the fallen assassin while the rest of the White Fang members watched on in disappointment, mentally ridiculing Blake for her wasted attempt at usurping Adam’s leadership. Without wasting time, Adam walked over to Blake with his sword pointing at her. Now, it was time to finish her off. It was now customary tradition to execute his defeated enemy, following the code of the White Fang. Blake was a threat to him and he wouldn’t mind getting rid of her if it meant keeping his power in check.

Blake could faintly see the blade directed at her face, too hurt to do anything to stop him. Adam was loyal to his culture and he would see to it that all traditions are followed, including the honorary death of a defeated champion in battle. Some part of her knew that this was to be the end. She would have to die honourably and let the chips fall as they may without her. The fate of the Faunus had been sealed. She closed her eyes, seemingly accepting her fate at the hands of the man she once loved.

Adam moved for the kill and swung his sword down to kill the fallen warrior. He felt no remorse as he was about to execute his most loyal follower. But other than the necessity to follow the code, he felt that removing her would only be the start of a proper rise to power against the galaxy. He wouldn’t care less about what happened to her, or anyone at the matter. As long as the White Fang rose to prominence, he was content with his victory.

His blade was only inches away from cutting into her body. However, as soon as he was about to finally end it, he felt the sword slam onto the hard metal surface that was the floor. He was stunned to find that he had missed his opponent, who had suddenly rolled out of the way and saved herself from a quick death.

Once she was safe from her brush with death, she took out the blaster still within her holster and fired her weapon on Adam’s leg. The shot hit the exposed leg of the warrior, causing him to throw his weapon up in the air and drop down on the ground in pain to grasp the wound. While still hurting, he looked up to see that Blake was now standing right above him, both of the swords now crossed at his neck. He found himself in between two killer blades almost inches to his exposed skin. It all looked to be over so suddenly. He had not anticipated such a twist in the duel and he was now forced to accept his fall at the hands of a disgraced warrior. There was only one way he could keep his reputation at this moment.

Forgetting the pain on his foot, he knelt down in a defeated position, hands on his knees as he had his head down. Blake just stared at the crushed warrior, intent on ending the fight once and for all.

“Go ahead, my dear.” called Adam. “Do it.” Blake looked at the sorry sight once more and moved her swords to finish him off once and for all, take the chance of guiding the White Fang in a new direction for the better. But when she looked at Adam down on the ground, she wondered to herself if this was what had to be done.

Was this the way to gain power and help influence her comrades to take the right path? To kill off Adam and follow the code he had placed so prominently in the organization? Wouldn’t that make her a hypocrite? Or was it… Something else? Was she still reluctant to kill him because of her own feelings? She wished that he would have some sense in him, and she didn’t want to end him if he ever did have some good in him?

So, it was decided. She was going to forget about going on the path of the White Fang. She was not going to be the same monster Adam had become. Thus, refusing to kill, she tossed his sword away and let the battle end in his humiliating defeat, so that he may live to regret his actions and change the way she wanted.

She turned around and walked away with a heavy heart. She hated to leave him at this state, but it was for the best and she hoped that things would get better for the organization without her. She would have to forge a new path. It was too late for her to change things, and now, she wanted to do nothing with their downfall. Perhaps, maybe fighting for Faunus kind was not the path she was meant for.

If that was the case, then what good was she to the galaxy? She had left behind the one family she knew and ended up with a band of terrorists seeking revenge and violence against the Republic, doing all the things she secretly dreaded, despite doing so on her enemies. Just what could she even do to make things better?

Nothing. That was all she could think of. She was no longer one with the White Fang. She was just Blake.

After throwing away Adam’s sword and her loyalty to the horrid cause she committed herself into, she began to walk away, not looking back. A lone tear was seen, slowly coming down as she repented all that she had done. She lost her real family, and now, she had lost the comrades who took her in.

She heard silent footsteps behind her, suggesting that Adam had finally rose back up after Blake sparred his life. Adam looked on in disbelief, watching his former partner walk away without honouring the code of the White Fang. He could not stand for the disgrace she was presenting, and he could not bear to let the shameful defeat at the hands of this sorry excuse of a warrior go to pass. He looked to his men, who were also shocked to see their leader befallen by Blake. He gave them one order… One to deal with traitors like Blake.

“Blast her!”

Blake was flabbergasted to hear Adam give out the order. She was sure that Adam would just let her go after such a powerful loss. Yet, there seemed to be no heart for defeat for the man. He was still going to follow what he believed was the righteous path, in which he saw the loss as nothing more than a sham; unfit for a true warrior of the White Fang. She was a traitor who knew no honour in her fights and she was going to end up the same way as all other traitors. Dead and thrown away like thrash.

The soldiers all complied while they still had loyalty with Adam, fearing for their lives if they were to object to his word or even delay his command. Immediately, blasters were aimed towards the woman they would have thought was the most loyal to their leader. Blake could not believe what she was seeing, but she knew she had to run.

The soldiers all made their move and fired their weapons at Blake, shooting out yellow bolts of lasers for her. The ex-White Fang member rolled out of the way before they could hit her, letting them all hit the wall behind her. They continued to fire away, making Blake jump, roll and dodge all over the place. Adam soon joined in and fired his own weapon at her, adding the difficulty for her.

Blake had to find a way to escape the place before she would run out of energy and eventually lose the fight to live. She couldn’t run off to the corridors for she knew Adam would alert the rest of the base and inform them of her betrayal. So, she looked around for the fastest way out. She found her exit in the form of an overhead window on the domed ceiling. That was her only ticket out of hell.

She locked on to the window and fired up her jetpack, using all of her strength and luck to attempt the escape. Once she boosted up in the air, the blaster fire still went for her from all directions. She kept on flying towards her window of opportunity, just flying straight towards the hole praying that she would make it out from the danger soon enough. Halfway through the crossfire, she shot with her own weapon at the glass window, shattering it to bits and leaving the exit completely open for her.

Soon, with all her power, she gave it one last boost and sped her way to the window. Finally, after going through the blaster fire, she managed to zoom right into the hole and out into the air; to freedom.

The people in the room had ceased fire; Adam groaning at the successful breach through the window by Blake. With the traitor on the run, he quickly ordered his men to follow him outside to pursue the fleeing coward. He refused to alert the entire base, only caring about punishing Blake for her treachery.

Adam, followed by three more White Fang soldiers, ran all the way out to the landing platform where they could find the traitor flying in the sky. They reached for the railing and scanned the area from where Blake may had come out from. Then, they saw a faint black dot in the sky with a flaring light on it. After a closer look, Adam could easily identify the object as none other than the treacherous assassin fleeing the base.

He didn’t lose much time to react and gave a silent nod to one of his men. The soldier had a sniper rifle at the ready as he zoomed in with his scope. He set his sights on Blake, aiming at her jetpack. Without any regrets, he then pulled the trigger and shot out a high-velocity bolt that headed straight for the flying Blake.

Blake thought she was already out of reach and would successfully escape the premises without any difficulty. That was until she felt a violent tremor to her body followed by an ear-shaking blast behind her. The next thing she knew it; she was starting to feel her flight path being shaken up badly. She heard the malfunctioning sounds of an engine going haywire and looked behind to find that her jetpack had been hit hard by a lone energy shot. Her jetpack soon grew a flaming trail behind her as she was now flying dizzily and out of control. She couldn’t keep her course in a straight line and was becoming even more uncontrollable.

There was nothing she could do but fly with a completely damaged jetpack as it then sent her plummeting to the ground. Blake was riddled with panic and desperation, trying to force a crash landing without killing her. She then set her sights on a forest with trees of no leaves. She free-fell all the way, uncertain whether she was going to survive her fall. Her body was now tumbling down to a deathly height and just kept going, leaving her to a fate impossible to avoid.

From the platform, Adam watched as the body of his former partner dived right down towards the dead forest on the surface. Then, after a few more seconds, the smoking body soon entered the forest and disappeared from his sights. He waited a little more before, finally, all he could see and hear was a faint explosion.

And just like that, Blake was gone. Gone from his organization. Gone from his life.

He let out a sigh of pity towards the fallen traitor. For certain, he thought she was a goner. With a sharp fall and an exploding jetpack, there was no way she could have survived any of those. However, some of his men had to be sure.

“Find her!” ordered the sniper who shot her down. Then, they were cut off as Adam raised his hand up to stop them.

“Forget it.” he assured them. “No one could have survived that fall.” He looked back at the forest, where now, a cloud of smoke drifted into the air, further proving his point that Blake was now a dead woman, no more to threaten his place.

He decided to let bygones be bygones, leaving the body to further rot in an unforgiving environment where only scavengers would come and greet her dead body and feast on her remains. She was to be nothing more than a memory best forgotten. He pulled out his sword, the one fortunately not soaked in his own blood, and pointed it at his soldiers, giving them a stern warning about the events of this day.

“Let this be a lesson to all who dare defy the White Fang.” growled Adam. “No one betrays our way. And they will suffer the consequences dearly if they ever betray us.” Everyone kept quiet, falling nervous from the sight of a brutal Adam Taurus as he solidifies his leadership in the White Fang.

From this moment on, they would continue on to join Death Watch in their campaign against all who dared ridiculed them. It was time to set the stage for an operation that shall see the glory of the Faunus and the end of a hated galaxy. of misfits and demons. The White Fang will prevail and they would show the galaxy that they were destined to rule over all, alongside their allies of Death Watch.

 

* * *

 

  
In the forest below, nothing was heard after the explosion. Only the high-pitched, terrifying sounds of a flock of shriek-hawks circling over the remains of a charred out body. They took their time and descended one-by-one to scavenge on what was left of the unfortunate soul.

As they landed, they found the smoking remains of their prey. They closed in to finish it off and go about their day. As they crept forward to begin the feast, they eyed upon where they would land their first bite. The neck, the stomach, the limbs. Anywhere they would find edible, which meant almost every part of her body. They came to their quarry and poked their heads down…

…to find nothing.

There was only the empty burnt out shell of Mandalorian armour left. The completely broken jetpack, now decimated further by the explosion and some bits of cloth possibly torn from her clothing. The scavengers didn’t find anything worth eating and cawed in defeat at the sight of a worthless pile of junk.

Meanwhile, as the hawks cried out their failed hunt, a trail of footprints was seen, heading for the bushes. From out of the vegetation, the person making those prints had presented herself. Blake had survived the crash, coming out battered and hurt, but still very much alive.

The trees above her had shielded her from a fatal fall and removed her jetpack just in the nick of time. However, she was now faced with more than just the chest wound she had suffered from the duel before. She had bruises from the fall, the bare branches of the trees ripping at her soft clothing, leaving her shoulders exposed to the heat of Concordia. She had abandoned the armour that had practically been her own ever since she was born.

Now left with an injured and a much more damaged spirit, she now walked off into the wilderness, wondering about what she would do from here on. She couldn’t go back to the hideout and retake her ship. She couldn’t go back to her real family either. There was just no one else to look for…

Or is there?

Blake suddenly remembered. Maybe there was someone she could go to. For once since the realization of her former partner’s brutality, she had hope again. She wished she could run to find the one person she could call on, but her injuries kept her from going so far. She had to limp her way to an unforgiving forest but with her weapons still intact and her hopes on a new high, she would not stop until she reached her destination. She had to find her.

Ilia…


	4. Yellow: The Rancor’s Wrath

** Yellow: The Rancor’s Wrath **

Level 1313,

Coruscant,

The under levels of the metropolitan world of Coruscant are always a magnet for the worst of crimes, even more so than Taris and Anima’s capital of Mistral combined. The lowest of the low gather to commit crimes within the heart of the Republic. What with the Republic now focused on conflict against the Separatists, many crime syndicates, pirates and other dark organizations take up the chance to act while the Senate was now mobilizing for war and would have less time and resources to attack the criminal underworld. Coruscant was rampant with criminal activity, especially in the under levels. Each gargantuan level of dark and shady ground has its own degree of notoriety and standard of living and the lower you go, the worst the conditions were for anyone unfortunate enough to even be there.

While the lowest levels boasted some of the worst of the worst in the galaxy, the one level arguably the most popular was none other than Level 1313. Just enough exposure for those to see the sunny light of the surface, but still shadowy enough to hide the wicked low-lives of the galaxy. What made this particular level so infamous was that it served as the pinnacle point for crime waves to travel between the surface and the lower ones; those living below would rise while surface-dwelling criminals sink so low to escape authorities above.

At least life could be prosperous for some. Go down to a little bit down Filoniville and you could stop by a well-known bar known as Junior’s Cantina, built from a former police station abandoned after an attack by the cantina’s owner himself. It had since become a prime stopping spot for wayward travellers, hunters, mercenaries and more, well protected by his gang of urban mafia.

The owner, promptly named Junior for some apparent reason, was inside his bar, serving all of his customers at the time of the war’s announcement by the Chancellor. The scene inside was being boomed by loud trippy beat box music, something different from most other cantinas where music is played with the more symphonized and upbeat jizz bands. Here, a lone DJ stood by playing with a pair of electronic disks, bringing more energy to the music. Patrons of all species either danced to the beat, stayed around for the unique assortments of refreshments or, behind the scenes, making some dangerous deals or bets on illegal activities.

Junior himself, dressed in his usual casual outfit, a yellow shirt underneath a black vest and a pair of navy blue shorts, was pouring some drinks for a couple of sore souls. A human market keeper and a Duro mercenary; both completely washed out after a bad sales day and an even worse spice run respectively.

Junior sighed at the pitiful bunch. It had already been a day since the Chancellor initiated the order to mobilize against the Separatists, but the repercussions of systems out from the Core were already taking action to restrict trade routes and enforce military efficiency to prepare for war. That had left most businesses and smaller companies heavily at risk from losing their money. Then again, the only thing Junior cared about from them was the fact they were going to at least waste a few actual chips to relieve them of their depression. And he knew the problems would continue and they would be back for more.

“Here you go, boys.” He pushed the cups of alcoholic jawa beer off, sliding precisely towards the two unlucky customers. They solemnly took their cups and raised it as thanks to the bartender. The human took one big gulp to drown out his sorrows in one go, but the Duro just quietly sipped, hopeful that another opportunity might arise. Junior then rested himself on his hands atop the counter, willing to talk to the men about their day. “Had a rough day?”

“You can say that again.” agreed the human after finishing his drink. “Tough day at work. Couldn’t sell a damn thing.” He wiped his mouth of the foam stuck to his lips from the drink. “At least I wasn’t robbed, unlike some other seller next to me. Bantha fodder.”

“I was hoping to catch me a few crates of spice from Oovo IV.” added the Duro. “Apparently, the Republic’s security in the system has tightened ever since the Chancellor opened his big mouth about going to war.”

“Darn it.” cursed the human. “That is why I’m struggling to earn my usual profits. The Republic’s demands for increasing military efforts are already putting a toll on galactic trade. I don’t think I can get the more sellable stuff if they’re going to restrict shipments to the military!”

Junior just scoffed at their sorrows, almost mocking them in their despair. As long as he was the one getting the money anyway, he wouldn’t give a damn about what people were going through. Though, if he needed his bar to keep the flow going, he should at least be hospitable, for now.

“Relax, gentlemen.” He assured the two men. “It’s a big galaxy out there. I’m sure some chance will come.” _Pffft_ , he thought, believing that no one would even bother about them.

“Yeah, right.” the human snorted in disagreement. “I can’t even earn enough to make a living up in the surface. I’m stuck here as it is.” Junior then poured a glass for himself to ‘help’ them regain their delight for the scenery around them. A little bit more drinking wouldn’t hurt to make them forget their problems long enough for them to remember them again and come back for more, meaning more money.

“A toast, to us bottom dwellers.” He raised his cup in the air, prompting the two bar-goers to do the same before the three of them simultaneously went bottoms up on their drinks and gulped it all down, starting yet another day of an unsuspected boost in business, all from the sorrows of those affected negatively by the war up ahead.

“AARGHHH!!!”

Then, the drinking ceremony was disrupted by a sudden bellowing yells coming from the front door. The music was abruptly halted with a screeching whizzing noise and everyone stopped to stare at what had happened at the door. Two fleeing Weequays ran right into the bar, screaming helplessly towards Junior at the counter. They pushed away the Duro mercenary and poked their heads out at the bartender with fear-stricken faces, panicking sporadically at him.

“ _Boss!_ ” They both screamed in Huttese. Luckily, Junior was fluent in their language, but he’d rather get straight to the point and, thus, spoke in Basic, something his underlings understood in return.

“Ergh! What is it now?” he groaned at the two’s pathetic appearances, embarrassed with all of his customers staring at him with curious or amused looks. As much as he wanted to put up a straight face and apologize to the crowd, he was too impatient to bother about them, focusing on the two Weequay bikers, who looked like they had been chased in a swoop race or something. “Can’t you see I have tons of customers today?”

“ _But… boss! It’s… It…!_ ”

**BOOOMM!!!**

They were unable to properly tell their boss what went wrong with them, and when they were about to, everyone in the room were alarmed by the booming sound of an explosion coming from the door.

“What the-?!” Junior screamed when he saw the bright flash followed by his metal doors flying across the room, crashing into the wall and nearly crushing a few timid drinkers who ran right away as the explosion happened, just in the nick of time. It wasn’t a major explosion on a demolitions level, but it was still powerful enough to punch a hole on that door.

Just then, Junior caught sight of a silhouette coming from the smoking cloud, possibly from the one who caused the blast. At first, he gritted his teeth in fury, hoping to teach the person at the end of the door a lesson. It was as soon as the figure began to take form that his attitude also started to change. As he looked on, he saw what looked like long wavy hair…

“Oh no…” His fears had come true, now panicked by the sight of the silhouette now revealing itself, coming into the bar from the chaotic blast.

A blonde woman waltzed right with sass enough to knock men right off their toes. She was wearing a black, low cut and crop top sweater with short sleeves, along with a pair of grey shorts almost coming down only to her thighs. Her arms were covered by linen arm warmers wrapped all over them, complete with black gloves and a pair of yellow gauntlets worn around the wrists. Over her shirt, a long white jacket with black highlights draped down to her leg joints. She wore a beige neck collar around her neck and a pair of shades covered her eyes. Lastly, she wore a pair of black boots with orange linings and two skulls of small beasts buckled at the top of the shoes.

She took one good look at Junior and gave him a welcoming wink and a big grin. Yet, everyone, including Junior and his cohorts, shivered in fear at the presence of this cheerful, energetic woman.

“Hello, Junior!” called out the woman. “Did you miss me?” She was none other than the Yellow Rancor herself.

Yang Xiao Long.

The intruder walked right in, blissfully taking in the excitement of the scene, despite the absence of music playing, which was why she gave a knowing glare at the DJ. The cowardly Ithorian was hiding behind his radio station after the blast poking out his head to catch the eyes of the deadly fighter. He immediately jumped from his hiding place and complied with the ‘request’. He was too afraid to manage the station for fear of getting shot, so he had to install a new tune just right for the brawler.

 _I Burn_. The hot hit all the way from Vale. Yang smiled as she let the exciting tune kick into her ears, making her heart beat up wildly. As she walked on. All the patrons either ran for their lives or hid behind anything they could find; tables, pillars and even the bashed up door. Yang ignored everyone and just focused her attention on the three dirty men at the counter. The Duro and the human market seller just ran out of the way.

Yang’s notoriety was not to be ignored. She was made one of the most infamous smugglers in the galaxy, going around stealing and racketeering countless other criminal organizations for a living. She first started her tirade of smuggling business for clients ever since she was just twelve years old, beginning her rampage in Vale before shifting to Mistral and then eventually Coruscant. She had been wanted by many systems for her endless pursuit for riches through violent means. She was meant for this business and she would do almost anything to achieve what she wanted. To think that all of this started because of a scandal involving some Hutt operation that almost killed Gardulla the Hutt herself, earning Yang almost utmost hate from criminal gangs everywhere. Even the Republic was out to stop her, but so far, no matter what or who was after her, she was able to evade and fight off her pursuers. Many clients would immediately reject any bounty requests, fearing retribution by the Yellow Rancor; a name she used to spread fear in the hearts of low-lives across the galaxy.

She stopped by the counter, leaning against it as Junior and his thugs trembled before her presence. She removed the shades from her eyes, revealing the pair of blue eyes that honed in on the bartender. Her deceiving endearing smile was directed at Junior, her lips licked, craving for something sweet.

“I’ll have that Muja fruit shake if you don’t mind, but lose the Hsuberry essence.” the brawler requested. Junior went to work right away, not even bothering to clean up the broken pieces of glass and bits of foam from the floor after his cup fell. He poured in that special drink for her and gave it to her without a word. The two Weequays at her side were about to run away, but Yang kept her eyes on them. Though her face looked welcoming, they knew she wasn’t so friendly inside.

Once her drink was ready, she took the cup and sucked the fluid with the straw given, letting the drink refresh her senses. If the folks could see through her gaze, they’d be certain she was waiting on him to say something. The way she was taking her sweet time with her drink and Junior’s jumpy expression were pretty much the indication that he was the main target in this little break-in. Junior was beyond frightened to the point of breaking down and running off for his life. No matter what he wanted to do, he just wouldn’t dare do a single thing other than serving the Yellow Rancor and make sure he doesn’t blow a fuse in her.

“B-Blondie.” His voice came out stuttering and stiff. “What are you doing here? I’m in my prime right now.” Yang stopped her drinking right away to answer the scaredy Loth-cat with her usual cheery demeanour.

“I came here to celebrate your success, man.” She cheered with her arms spread out with complimentary joy. Junior didn’t buy it; he was still caught in a death trap with her around.

“Look. I gave you all the details. I even sent these two womp-rats to find you and tell you what you need to know.” he told Yang, pointing at the two numbskulls next to her. They leapt at the disapproving insult of their boss and the fact he had given them Yang’s attention. This was where things starting to come to light as the first hint of Yang’s notorious persona was noticed.

“Really?” She gave out a gasp in fake disbelief. Then, she looked towards the two Weequay with a stare that could make an acklay shiver. It was more than enough to make their eyes whiten. She furrowed her brows and made a serious frown. “I wasn’t sure attempting to shoot me down at the station was the message you wanted to give me.”

The Weequay shook timidly in her dangerous change of mood. It was then added up by the disappointed look their boss gave them as well. They couldn’t tell if he was sure if he was either angry at them for their failure to get the job done or trying to cover up his involvement by rebuking them for ‘disobeying his orders’. Regardless, he was going to give them one heck of an earful when he was done with her.

“I’ll deal with you two later.” He growled at them, giving them a firm warning about what he would do to them. It was all enough for the Weequay to run for their lives. They’d rather face the wrath of their boss than the fatal blows of the Yellow Rancor right about now. They fled the scene, not to be seen again.

Junior sighed, rubbing his head in utter frustration. Never send a biker to do a hitman’s job; let alone two. The bumbling idiots now out of sight, he could get back to pleasing the beast in the room before things could get rough really quick.

“So, I’m going to ask you again, Junior.” Yang was quick to remind the bartender of her business. “Where is it?”

“Please, Blondie.” Junior was desperate to change the subject, refusing to answer her of what could get him a death sentence. “Not this again.”

“I want to know where those spices are going.” She landed her elbow on the table and pointed her finger at the frightened Junior. “They could be worthy enough to clear the large bounty on my head.” She then pointed at herself, referring to her current troubles.

“But… those spices are property of the Mining Guild. They could put a target on my head if they knew if I was giving you intel. And do you know who they’re sending the cargo to? The Torchwick Syndicate!”

Yang wouldn’t give a darn about what he thought. She was only out for herself. Numerous organizations all made the united decision to put a nasty price on Yang after owing much debt to every one of them, and had every single bounty hunter out to get her. She may had survived every single encounter, but the countless amount of weight and hate thrown against her was starting to irritate her. One single hit-and-run on the Guild would be more than enough to settle her debts and guarantee herself safe from the loathsome bunch of people she pissed off. At least she would only have the Guild to come at her throat.

With Junior’s persistence against her demands, Yang was getting very impatient at his stupid attempts to throw her off the subject at hand. So, she knew she had to let him have it. She threw a sucker punch on the scared bartender, grabbing him by the collar and pulled him closer to her face. She gave such a nasty stare that she sworn she heard a hiccup from the man, sounding off like some buffoon ( **A/N~ Looking at you, Gavin)**.

“Listen, Junior.” snarled Yang. “I don’t give a flying damn about Torchwick or whatever problems you have, but I’m on a very tight situation here. The least you can do is help a girl in trouble.” She stopped talking to watch the fear being driven into the man. “But I’m not just some girl and I’ve got the firepower to prove it. So, start talkin’, or I’ll let the Hutts know where you’re at right now and let them decide what to do with you.”

Fudge that. Junior would rather deal with the Hutts than taking her on face-to-face. But it was all too much to handle. It was either cough up the details or get a hole punched right into his face. Broken under the pressure, there was nothing left with no excuses to throw at. If this kept up, he would have his groin kicked with extreme force.

“O-Okay! Okay!” He finally cracked. “I’ll tell you! Just… let me live!” Yang gave him another deathly stare for a few seconds. Finally satisfied with his broken spirit, she decided to set him free from her death grip, releasing him by giving him a light shove. Junior backed up against the wall while he grabbed for his throat, steadying his collar. Yang crossed her arms and paid attention, still shooting daggers with her eyes at him.

“Where is the shipment?” Yang repeated her question. Junior knew he couldn’t escape this one.

“It’s heading for Nar Shaddaa. Torchwick put up an order for new spices to be sold to the Pike Syndicate in exchange for a large sum of credits.”

“How much are we talking about?” Yang twirled with the straw of her glass as she waited for the answer she wanted to hear.

“About 50,000 credits worth.” Her eyes brightened. Fifty thousand? That was more than enough for her to buy her very own apartment in the tallest towers of Cloud City! With that much money, she’d be able to last a few years without being hunted down. This was the chance she was waiting for. But there was no time to celebrate. She needed a little more information before being finished with this dimwit.

“Alright. So, I’m guessing the cargo’s gonna be heavily guarded if it’s that precious.” she asked about the security of the shipment.

“You think?” Junior scoffed. “If you’re going to raid the ship, then good luck getting past both the Guild’s guards and Torchwick’s men at the same time.” warned Junior, though secretly wishing she’d be put down by the amount of security. Yang was almost done with her questioning. All she had to do was ask for the location of the cargo shipment and she was finally off.

“And where can I find the cargo being loaded at?” asked Yang again. This time, Junior, seemingly hopeless, didn’t hesitate to answer her.

“At Cargo Bay 1977.” With his final answer, Yang was, at last, satisfied. After finishing up the last of her drink, she finally stood up and gave Junior one final salute to see him off, giving that same smile of hers.

“Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she taunted. “Thanks for the info, Junior!” She then put on her shades again before bidding one last farewell to Junior, for now. “And don’t worry. You’ll live to serve another day.” Yang then walked out towards the destroyed entrance way and was about to go off on her heist to see herself gone from the wanted lists.

“Yeah, sure thing, blondie.” Junior answered as well, surprisingly calm after what he went through. Yang went off without a care in the world, leaving behind Junior to clean up the mess. If only she could see the bartender’s face as she left the place.

Yang was finally out of the damaged doorway and on her way to her destination. She looked out to find that some of the pedestrians who caught her in the act had fled while others were still stunned to even move. The sight of the Yellow Rancor was too savage and intimidating for anyone to stop her. She moved on, heading for her custom-coloured speeder just parked opposite the building. A JR-4 swoop bike painted yellow all over and a few black patterns at the front bumper and a bit of orange highlights at the rear engines. It was a colour style just right for Yang. She was about to hop aboard and make the jumpstart to her prize and the money she needed.

But trouble was already onto her before she even started. From behind her she could hear the sounds of clicking and electric whirring noises; all giving her the very unwelcome notion that she had just been had.

“Oh boy…” She didn’t turn to look what was happening. She didn’t even need to. She already knew what was going on. Call it a hunch if you will, but Yang pretty much saw this coming from a light-year away. It seemed Junior had finally decided to take the pressure off of him and retaliate. “I knew I had a bad feeling about this.”

When she did decide to turn around, she saw a full house of different men, mainly human and Gran with the two Weequay within the crowd, all armed with blasters aiming right at her. They all wore black suits with red undershirts; a very bizarre sight for an armed mob, but one which easily identifies these men as Junior’s own gang of thugs, the Xiong Mob Masters.

 _Speak of the devil_ , Yang thought, when she laid eyes on the boss himself. Finally, out of his cowardly shell, he came out bold and cocky with a Merr-Sonn heavy blaster in his hands. Even with this fiery standoff, Yang just put her hand on her hip and lowered her shades so her eyes could be seen behind, smirking at the man and his gang of mobsters.

“Why did I have the feeling you’d finally crack, Junior?” she mocked the boss with a wink to add taste to her sass. “What’s wrong? Didn’t like the warm reception I gave you?”

“You’ve messed with me for the last time, Xiao Long.” urged Junior. “And now, you’ll bite the dust at last.”

“Come on, Junior.” Though she wasn’t really fazed by his opposition, she was still going to have some fun with mocking around with him. “Can’t we just kiss and make up?” This time, Junior had already made his choice. He was going to get rid of the Yellow Rancor like no one had ever done before.

“Not going to happen this time… Blondie.” He aimed his heavy blaster at Yang, followed by everyone else who directed their weapons at the Yellow Rancor. Despite the odds which should never be told to her, Yang just sighed, brave in the face of ten weapons aimed at her.

“Alright.” She shrugged her shoulders, looking like she wanted to avoid such a bad confrontation. Quite the contrary, as she moved her hands to her belt, where a pair of dual blasters rested right into their holsters. She pulled them out and gave them a couple of spins before cocking them to firing mode. The blasters were basically two pistols but built thicker than most standard ones.

A larger barrel made for spread fire instead of the straight single-shots with cylindrical magazines built into each weapon. These were essentially shotgun-pistol hybrids, custom-made from blasters made straight out of Golan Arms, cut short and fully upgraded to perfection. Yang’s preference for close-quarter combat made these weapons a primary choice. She also showed her love for these masterpieces by giving them the same paint job as her own bike.

They even have names; Ember Celica. And she was ready to let them do the talking. It was time to have some fun.

Junior and his gang saw the smug look on her face, suggesting she wouldn’t back down. In fact, she was challenging them. Junior smirked as well, itching for a fight and make this miserable woman a mess all over. It’s been a long while since his gang had a firefight, but the odds stacked against her, he believed she was going to be toast the second she would begin.

“Let ‘er have it, boys!” Playing the same burning theme song in her head, Yang prepped to let the mob make the first move. She crossed her arms together and bent down, getting ready to leap in the air.

Then, Junior made the first move. Two of his men pointed their guns at her and let loose a barrage of laser bolts. Yang timed her jump precisely before the men even pulled their triggers and with one big push of her body, jumped right up and forward towards Junior. In mid-air, the men could see the brawler making her way towards them. They all scattered to avoid her heavy landing, shifting to the opposite side of the building before Yang finally touched down. They could had sworn they heard the ground shake with her landing. Once she made the landing, Yang used her right pistol and made one shot at a few of the men on her right.

The pistol fired out a wide blast that let loose pieces of shrapnel that threatened to pierce through their soft flesh. Along with the sharp pieces, a larger bullet also came out of the barrel, following the shrapnel towards its target. The set of projectiles quickly made their way to the gangsters, only for them to get to cover almost instantly to avoid getting shredded. The shot managed to hit only the mailbox and streetlight they hid behind while the large round hit the road and caused a small explosion. One of the lucky men sighed, relieved to avoid a combination of flak and explosive firepower.

Yang cocked up her gun again. She had just used up her frag grenade on her right gun, so she would have to resort to using the rest of the flak rounds before reloading on that gun. But, she then made use of her left gun just as soon as Junior and his men fired from behind her. She stepped behind, narrowly avoiding their clumsy aiming before letting loose another frag and more flak fire. Junior and his boys took cover behind whatever was in the vicinity. A few parked airspeeders, trash cans and other abstract objects.

With both of her frags used for that round, Yang made her move to finish off the gangsters. She made her move and saw the two gangsters she shot at first. She started sprinting towards them, alarming the men to fire back. She took the chance and ran carelessly towards her targets, firing more of her shotgun blasts at them to discourage them from firing their weapons. Once they retreated down, she leapt over their spot and appeared right in between them.

The men shrunk down in cowardice and closed their eyes to look away from the pain of shrapnel that was about to come. However, Yang had a different approach. She took to one of the spooked out men and grabbed him up, giving him one powerful punch to the stomach before blasting him away with another fist to the face, throwing him off. She then followed up with another low kick to the groin of the other thug and delivered a spin kick to his shoulder that sent him whirling down on the ground. Both men sustained a lot of pain, but they were still alive, barely.

Yang was beyond many things, but a murderer she was not. She would only kill if absolutely necessary, so these thugs were fortunate that they weren’t really worth her effort. Speaking of which, Junior was terrified to see two of his men already down for the count. That didn’t stop him from ordering his men to continue putting the pressure on Yang. They peeked over from their covers and fired more of their weapons. Yang quickly took cover behind the same debris her first two hits had used earlier. She waited before the bullets died down and she would have enough chances to run over. To increase her odds even further, she stood up and fired more rounds onto the gang, forcing them back.

She then hid back and reloaded her weapons with fresh magazines. Once they were locked in place, she would have new flak rounds with a couple of new explosive shots at her disposal. Once ready, she fired up both of her explosive rounds onto Junior’s position. A couple of his men were hiding behind an airspeeder when the frag rounds blew up the vehicle and sent it hurling over the men. The force of the blast pushed them back down to the ground, knocking both of them out. The destroyed vehicle landed right behind Junior himself, close to crushing two more mobsters behind him.

Junior snarled with annoyance, frustrated that he couldn’t land a single shot or hit on his sworn enemy. Giving himself a shot, he walked right out and fired his heavy blaster. The weapon shot out a highly rapid barrage of energy shots spat out with great velocity. The rain of projectiles had Yang fall back for some more cover. However, once the lasers hit, she was suddenly met with the full force of the barrage acting against the smashed mailbox that sent it flying away. She had to run back before Junior let out another stream of laser rounds at her. She ran and ran until she leapt back behind a more stable and heavier newsstand which was built stuck to the ground.

Though she had more solid protection, the walls of the stand were still being punched repeatedly into the structure until eventually the wall on the other side broke into a hole large enough to let the barrage in. All there was left was the wall Yang was right against. Junior had stopped, reloading his extremely large weapon by inserting the power charge belt into the chamber below the weapon. Yang saw this as he chance to strike back, knowing that it’d take quite a while to reload a weapon of that size, especially one built by the Morellian Weapons Conglomerate.

She got back up and prepared to shoot Junior’s weapon away before she could give him a nice dose of punches to the guts and anywhere best not mentioned. She made the run while Junior was still loading in a new set of energy charges, thinking that she would be able to charge right and take the shot. But suddenly, more of Junior’s men had arrived to assist him by jumping right in and fired their weapons immediately. Yang quickly dragged to a stop and shifted away from the danger and barely saving herself from a nasty fate.

She ran and reached for a table outside the bar and flipped it down to be used as a barricade between her and the ongoing salvo of blaster fire. After vaulting over, she immediately cursed from losing her open door to kicking Junior’s ass and sending him packing.

Junior was able to fully load his gun up and resumed to fire along his men. He figured now was the time to really mess with her. He started to fire his repeater blaster and spread it out all over her area. He wasn’t going to hit her, at least not intentionally. Instead, he was going to really psych her out and give her so much stress, she’d be bound to poke out and get shot anyway.

Yang knew this was some way to get her riled up, but it wasn’t going to work. She was going to keep her cool and let the idiot run out of charges again so she could come out and take out his boys before she could finish up with Junior himself. Nothing was going to make her break. Absolutely… nothing.

**KRAK!!!**

Except one thing…

Yang felt a slight burn coursing through her head. She felt a laser bolt zap right above her and…

_Oh no…_

Eyes wide open, she slowly faded into a trance as if time had come to a grinding slow. It was then, from out of nowhere, she saw it.

Strands of yellow hair, floating down before her very eyes…

_BUMM BUMM_

There was a heartbeat…

_BUMM BUMM_

A strange yet burning feeling was boiling inside…

_BUMM BUMM_

She felt her blood racing forth across her entire system…

**_BUMM BUMM_ **

All at once, her body felt so heated, so aggravating…

**_BUMM BUMM_ **

**_BUMM BUMM_ **

**_BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM_ **

Her brows furrowed, her eyes almost blood red…

And then…

**_BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM_ **

**_BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM BUMM_ **

**BRAK!!!**

…she snapped.

“ARGHH!!!” Rage. There was only rage. The brawler had reached her boiling point. Her wild scream echoed through the streets, bringing with it a sudden chill that raced right through all within the area. Junior and his boys could almost feel the intensity of Yang’s anger strike within his very heart, making them stop firing. His bones were now getting even whiter than the whole surface of Orto Plutonia and his body was surely shivering as if he was on that Pantoran protectorate.

He saw Yang’s face when she turned around. A face of the beast within. This was it. The wrath of the Yellow Rancor was about to begin.

“You. Are. So…” “Going to pay…” She growled at an all-time low, fury already building up. She wielded her Ember Celica and made a dreadful stare on whoever dared to shred her hair. Junior was shivering so badly, he couldn’t keep his aim straight and his morale was struck hard just by looking at Yang at her most furious. His men were no better as they too trembled before the might of the smuggler.

“D-Don’t just stand there!” Junior did his best to maintain his order. “Shoot her down!” Everyone obliged as they resumed their firing positions. Yang just stood there, adrenaline pumpin’ and body all heated up for action and revenge.

“I don’t think so, you slime ball.” She spoke in a tone that could send Jabba running. Junior proceeded to fire his repeater at her and his men followed behind. Yang just ran forward, running around the laser barrage with increased speed. She didn’t care if laser fire was all over the place. She just wanted to rip Junior and his boys into a million pieces with ferocity even a lightsaber could not achieve.

But her rush of outrage was actually making things easier for her. The men were so in fear of her temper that they were just shaking with their aim, missing a lot further than they could get. Yang kept on sprinting; her anger still mounting. She was not powered like some Jedi or given any enhancements, cybernetic or via stimpak. This was pure genetics as she claimed; she was born with this hot temper and she had always used it to get out of the worst of situations.

Once she came close enough, Junior and his men were beyond stunned. With one clench of her fist, she gave one of the strongest punches anyone had ever seen. The force of the blow was powerful enough to fling the Gran thug with a concussion, throwing him off to the side before falling down to the hard concrete. The next thug was then punched in the gut, delivering a bone-shattering pain that instantly immobilized the gangster before she punched him again in the face, sending him flying as well. Junior was now at his end’s wits, watching Yang grab another man before him and tossed him as hard as she could to a building. The force was so tremendous that it actually a dent on the metal wall!

Before Yang could get to an almost pale Junior, she heard a loud explosion and felt shook up by the blast. She sharply turned around to find yet another group of Junior’s boys. This time, it was four men with stun batons and a large Gigorian who didn’t wear much clothing other than an electronic mask on his mouth, but was equipped with a pair of metal knuckles meant for a brutal beatdown. The huge alien made a low roar in an attempt to scare the blonde brawler into submission before boxing his fists together to further show off his strength.

Nevertheless, Yang was still as angry as ever, if not even more. She had no time to think about running off. Her fire was burning out of control, putting the pressure in her violent craving for some payback. She just charged forth and let her fists do the work, leaving no time for even her blasters which should get the job done easily. She was going to vent out her frustration the only way she’d go for, hardcore physical contact, making sure she’d feel her hard blows to the enemy enough and be satisfied with their suffering.

The four men all came forward to face the boxer with their batons electrified and battle-ready. Yang was in reach to give the thugs a nice little punch to each and every one of their faces. One swung his baton, aiming for her head, but Yang caught the guy by the arm as he lashed out. With one strong pull of her strength, she tossed him like a ragdoll and sent him crashing into another Rodian thug. The other two baton-wielding men ran for her with the same ferocity. Once again, Yang bided her time and waited for the thugs to swing their batons at her. She used her wrist to block the first thug that attacked and then swung her arm to stop the second strike. After defending herself, she delivered a roundhouse kick that swept through both of the thugs’ heads, knocking them out instantly.

It was finally down to the last guy in the confrontation; the Gigorian brute. He roared again before slamming both of his fists to the ground. Yang followed up with a bash of her own fists into each other, accepting the challenge. The colossal boxer came forth and raised his fist to clobber her. Yang quickly moved out of the way by jumping backwards just as the Gigorian smashed his fist into the ground with powerful force to shake the area around her.

She then dashed forward and gave the furry alien her own set of punches. This time, the Gigorian was evenly matched with his own strength going toe-to-toe against hers in a tough struggle. They both locked their fists together, pushing each other to see who should be victorious in the clash of the titans. Yang gave it all she could, not relenting one bit while keeping her feet practically glued to the floor with her strength. The taller Gigorian had a slight height advantage over her, being able to push his entire weight down onto Yang and putting the pressure on her legs.

Soon, it proved to be too much for the blonde boxer. She finally gave way and lost her grip on the brute, causing her to lose her strength as well. The Gigorian found the chance to deliver an unforgiving double punch to Yang’s stomach. The woman was bombarded with extreme pain shot around her body like a blaster bolt, clutching her hurt stomach after the blow was given. However, the Gigorian was far from over. He proceeded to bash her in the face from side to side with the metal alloy of the knucklers completely devastating her. Then, he went for the low blow and made a very dirty kick to her chest, pushing her a few feet away from the gloating brute. Yang was dragged across the rough surface of the road, adding more injury to her already battered body that only seemed to feel numb when she came to a stop.

The Gigorian let out a taunting cackle before giving out a rude belch to bask in her misery. Junior, who was standing safely on the other side of the street, was grinning coldly at his wounded nemesis. He was sure that Yang would never be able to get up from that one. The Gigorian was his number two; his right-hand man. He gave him the best of the best equipment to finish the job, discreetly making the rest of his mob nothing more than a bunch of bantha fodder. He didn’t really care about the rest of the men toppled down by Yang. He knew they’d get back up anyway. If one of them was completely killed, then screw it. Dump the body elsewhere where no one would find it. Simple as that.

Unfortunately for him, there was no end to Yang’s short temper. She was still holding up against her pain, but was shaken up that she couldn’t stand back up straight. Her body was bent a little bit down from a backache and her face, despite suffering the worst of the attacks, was still in shape, only bruised. It was a miracle that her injuries were only minor. And with her body back up, her anger had reached a new high level of danger.

It almost looked like her eyes had gone red, not from the weakness from her pain, but from the boiling strains that were caused by her agitation. She was so mad they could had sworn it went on fire, or probably more of a gold aura of sorts. It was just an exaggeration, but the meaning was true. They had truly pissed off the wrong Xiao Long.

Nevertheless, the Gigorian stood his ground, anticipating another blowout with the human. Yang was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. The pain was soon cast away, almost like it was transformed into a boost of energy and power. She let out all of her frustration and hurt into her own system, making her even hungrier for more carnage.

“HHARRRGHH!!!” Then, she ran. She charged right for the Gigorian, who was still unmoved by her sudden boost of strength. But she was about to give his first taste of total annihilation. He came forward and joined both of his hands together before attempting to slam her down with one fatal knockdown. However, Yang had already learnt from her mistake and instead rolled underneath the fists while they were almost halfway down to the ground. As she finished, she then channelled all of her power into her fist and gave the Gigorian the worst punch; the most horrifying slam that no one should ever face.

“Erk…” It was too late to even utter. Yang’s fist had already collided into the worst possible spot on the map.

**BASH!!!**

The Gigorian yelped in the utmost agony. All the pain in the galaxy could not compare to what he was going through. There was nothing else to even describe. Even Junior was flinching in pure horror at what had befallen to his second-in-command. It was so brutal, so powerful that even the author retelling this story can’t go on with the details. All that can be said that, fortunately, it wasn’t too horrible. His large body and well-built muscular physique protected him form a worse fate. But the Gigorian was already beyond being out of the count. He was going to have tons of sick days after this.

Just like that, he had taken the fall and just laid there, practically unconscious. Yang was still bent down and her fist was still in the air after delivering the shattering punch. She slowly brought it back down and rose back up. She was still letting out steam, her body was burning as it was before and her temper was still flaring up. With her temperature up and running, she turned to face the idiot who started it all.

Junior was once again in a very spoilt pickle. He was again the cowardly rat he was when she was in the bar. All frightened and stunned to the core. He laid his eyes on the raging boxer who took out his entire gang and he was unable to do anything. Not even pick up his heavy repeater to finish the job. There wasn’t even any point trying. Yang had just decimated everyone single-handedly, halfway without her guns. Would he make any difference whatsoever?

Yang certainly wouldn’t think so. She was already about to settle the score with Junior, making her way towards Junior. The petrified mob boss was already jabbering like a Kowakian monkey lizard backed in a corner. There was no running from her wrath this time. If he was going to accept his punishment, he was going to take it like a man. At least, that was what he hoped.

Yang punched her own fist into her palm, eager to show no mercy to this bratty no-good loser and teach him a lesson. Never **EVER** mess with Yang Xiao Long, the Yellow Rancor. She inched closer and closer, ready to deliver the punishing blow to Junior.

Unfortunately, nothing really lasts forever. Suddenly, she felt a sharp drop of her energy. Her burning anger was now starting to cool down very fast. Finally, it seemed that the inner fury of the Yellow Rancor was already going down to a complete stop. Her body had fallen weak and out of power, forcing her to slump down and take time to let herself cool down. She was now back to her old self.

Junior was slowly watching Yang undergo her ultimate cool-down before cracking up a grin of arrogance and wicked hope. Well, it looked this was another chance to rid himself of this oppressive and insane punk once and for all. While Yang was crouched down still cooling off, Junior went to go pick up a stun baton from one of his fallen lackeys and headed for the incapacitated Xiao Long. Giving the baton a few pats onto his palm before charging it up, he was honing in for the brawler’s head to knock her out. After that, he would send her to whoever was willing to give him the highest price for her capture. This was going to be a huge win, regardless of what had happened to his place.

 “I got you now, blondie.” He raised his baton ready to claim his prize. He was about to make the hit and end her reign for good.

**DRKK!**

“DUK!” Clearly, he had underestimated her odds. “Eeepp…” His stomach was now a mess and the one to cause it was none other than a direct punch to the gut by the seemingly downed smuggler. Despite her shutdown, she still seemed to have a bit of energy left to inflict some massive pain. The bartender was definitely out for the count. He held his stomach as he fainted down on the ground in a very pitiful yelp.

After her rapid cool-down, Yang slowly got back up and brushed her hair back with her filthy hands, stroking the bit that was cut off by the moron who would dare to aim for her hair. She would be most lovely to find the bastard and give him an extra beating. However, there was no time to grieve for her lost strands.

For all she knew, she must had caused a commotion and the authorities could very well be on their way to resolve the crisis. She had to bail and head for her mission while the information given by Junior was still fresh in her head. He had better hoped that she’d find her quarry. Otherwise, she was going to come back and really put an end to his business.

“Loser.” She gave one final cold taunt before walking past the twitching weakling on the ground. Yang held her head after a complete drainage in her concentration followed by a swelling headache slightly severe, but enough for her senses to null down. She then headed for her precious Bumblebee, which had miraculously survived the onslaught unscathed and in perfect condition. She hopped onto the bike and started up the engines before giving one good jumpstart to speed off away from the scene.

As she rode on for her objective, she cleared her mind of the mess going on in her head and let the strong breeze acting against her calm her. The anger she had launched upon herself was not the way she intended to win the fight.

She was just that easily aggravated when it came to battling. Any lost strand of hair, any scratch or bruise left in her body and every little failure to one up her opponent; it was all enough to trigger her inner beast and unleash her might upon those who dared take her on. She was always in high spirits whenever she battled, always sure she would win without being hurt or even scratched. However, when push came to shove, she wouldn’t let it go. She had to use her anger and push it all out on her foes.

This happened so often that she began to wonder…

What had happened to her?

She didn’t have a problem being a smuggler running raids on the richest of the rich, but she was questioning what had her horrible short temper cost her?

She used to be so full of cheer in the nicest way possible in Yang’s standards. She was the life of the party, always there to brighten up one’s day and help out those in need. But now, she was beginning to think that all of that was lost because of her inability to keep her cool. To be brutally honest, it made her lose a lot in life.

Her friends, her family, and most especially…

Her own little sister.

She felt like everything was gone the moment she left them. It was the hardest decision to make when she started off. However, over time, she learned to let go of her past and embrace the future, no matter how unfortunate it may had been. But she would still hold on to that one trait that would always remind her of the many losses she had suffered.

Her anger. And, whether she liked it or not, she thought it would stay there…

Forever…

 

* * *

 

 

Back at the street left behind by Yang’s destructive rage, Junior had finally recovered from his very much unfortunate defeat, literally at the hands of the blonde punk. His stomach was still churning, no doubt, and he had to walk like a hunchback to keep his tummy from swelling worse than it already was.

Then, when he looked around to find his corner of the area wrecked and burning, he knew he was in for a lot more than just Yang. Coruscant’s under-level police could had well heard the blasting noise that had echoed throughout the darkness of the streets and were most definitely on their way to investigate.

This was not looking good for the bartender. All of his men were down and out, with their weapons all littered and ripe for becoming evidence of the dark truths of Junior Xiong. Suddenly, he heard a few tapping noises coming from behind him. He shifted around to find a pair of similarly identical women with long black hair and dressed in rather fancy yet seductive attire.

“Sorry we’re late, boss.” The first twin, Melanie, spoke.

“Did we miss something?” Militia, the other woman followed. Junior just gave off a very unsatisfied growl. He was indeed baffled at the absence of the two of his best henchwomen during the entire scuffle with Yang.

“You girls…” However, there was no time to complain. “Drgh!” The authorities were probably on their way right now and the last thing he wanted to do was to argue with a couple of disobedient twins before he would be arrested for his true colours. “Forget it. The cops will be here any minute now. I want you to clean up this mess.”

His orders to clear the evidence and salvage the fallen crew were met with unsavoury huffs from the two of them.

“Hmph.” They simultaneously showed their disapproval, but they would go on anyway albeit reluctantly. As bossy and rude as their boss was, they could not argue with a boss who had a great amount of dough. They went to work at clearing up the unconscious and injured men, as well as cleaning up the obvious stuff that would expose their boss.

“And girls.” Then, they were called upon by their boss. “When you’re done, I want you both to find that mangy blonde wretch, and cut her down!”

The twins made similar grins. Maybe their boredom wouldn’t come to haunt them after all. As long as their boss gave them the money and the excitement to go with it, they were more than willing to carry out the task. Junior didn’t care anymore.

Dead or alive. Yang Xiao Long was going to be good as done!


End file.
